1.
Kate Crackernuts
–
Kate Crackernuts is a Scottish fairy tale collected by Andrew Lang in the Orkney Islands and published in Longmans Magazine in 1889. Joseph Jacobs edited and republished the tale in his English Fairy Tales, the tale is about a princess who rescues her beautiful sister from an evil enchantment and a prince from a wasting sickness caused by dancing nightly with the fairies. The tale has been adapted to a novel and a stage play. A king had a daughter named Anne, and his queen had a daughter named Kate, the queen was jealous of Anne, but Kate loved her. The queen consulted with a henwife to ruin Annes beauty, Kate wrapped Annes head in a cloth, and they went out to seek their fortunes. They found a castle where the king had two sons, one of whom was sickening, and whoever watched him by night vanished, Kate asked for shelter for herself and her sick sister, and offered to watch. At midnight, the sick prince rose and rode off, Kate sneaked onto his horse and collected nuts as they rode through the woods. A green hill where the fairies were dancing opened to receive the prince, the second night is passed as the first but Kate found a fairy baby in the hill. It played with a wand, and she heard fairies say that three strokes of the wand would cure Anne, so she rolled nuts to distract the baby and get the wand, then cured her sister. The third night, Kate said she would stay if she could marry the prince, and that night. She distracted the baby with the nuts again to get it, as soon as they returned to the castle, she cooked it, and the prince was cured by eating it. Meanwhile, his brother had seen Anne and fell in love with her, so they all married — the sick brother to the sister. The tale touches upon the wicked stepmother theme but never fully develops it, unlike many popular tales, which are known from reworked literary forms, Crackernuts is very close to the oral tradition. It combines Aarne–Thompson types 306, the shoes, such as The Twelve Dancing Princesses, and 711, the beautiful. The fairies forcing young men and women to come to an every day and dance to exhaustion. The actual disease involved appears to have been consumption, katharine Mary Briggs adapted the story for her childrens novel Kate Crackernuts
Kate Crackernuts
–
Kate and the Fairy Baby
2.
German language
–
German is a West Germanic language that is mainly spoken in Central Europe. It is the most widely spoken and official language in Germany, Austria, Switzerland, South Tyrol, the German-speaking Community of Belgium and it is also one of the three official languages of Luxembourg. Major languages which are most similar to German include other members of the West Germanic language branch, such as Afrikaans, Dutch, English, Luxembourgish and it is the second most widely spoken Germanic language, after English. One of the languages of the world, German is the first language of about 95 million people worldwide. The German speaking countries are ranked fifth in terms of publication of new books. German derives most of its vocabulary from the Germanic branch of the Indo-European language family, a portion of German words are derived from Latin and Greek, and fewer are borrowed from French and English. With slightly different standardized variants, German is a pluricentric language, like English, German is also notable for its broad spectrum of dialects, with many unique varieties existing in Europe and also other parts of the world. The history of the German language begins with the High German consonant shift during the migration period, when Martin Luther translated the Bible, he based his translation primarily on the standard bureaucratic language used in Saxony, also known as Meißner Deutsch. Copies of Luthers Bible featured a long list of glosses for each region that translated words which were unknown in the region into the regional dialect. Roman Catholics initially rejected Luthers translation, and tried to create their own Catholic standard of the German language – the difference in relation to Protestant German was minimal. It was not until the middle of the 18th century that a widely accepted standard was created, until about 1800, standard German was mainly a written language, in urban northern Germany, the local Low German dialects were spoken. Standard German, which was different, was often learned as a foreign language with uncertain pronunciation. Northern German pronunciation was considered the standard in prescriptive pronunciation guides though, however, German was the language of commerce and government in the Habsburg Empire, which encompassed a large area of Central and Eastern Europe. Until the mid-19th century, it was essentially the language of townspeople throughout most of the Empire and its use indicated that the speaker was a merchant or someone from an urban area, regardless of nationality. Some cities, such as Prague and Budapest, were gradually Germanized in the years after their incorporation into the Habsburg domain, others, such as Pozsony, were originally settled during the Habsburg period, and were primarily German at that time. Prague, Budapest and Bratislava as well as cities like Zagreb, the most comprehensive guide to the vocabulary of the German language is found within the Deutsches Wörterbuch. This dictionary was created by the Brothers Grimm and is composed of 16 parts which were issued between 1852 and 1860, in 1872, grammatical and orthographic rules first appeared in the Duden Handbook. In 1901, the 2nd Orthographical Conference ended with a standardization of the German language in its written form
German language
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Old Frisian (Alt-Friesisch)
German language
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The widespread popularity of the
Bible translated into German by
Martin Luther helped establish modern German
German language
–
Examples of German language in
Namibian everyday life
German language
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German-language newspapers in the U.S. in 1922
3.
Fairy tale
–
Fairy tales may be distinguished from other folk narratives such as legends and explicitly moral tales, including beast fables. The term is used for stories with origins in European tradition and, at least in recent centuries. In less technical contexts, the term is used to describe something blessed with unusual happiness. Colloquially, a tale or fairy story can also mean any far-fetched story or tall tale, it is used especially of any story that not only is not true. Legends are perceived as real, fairy tales may merge into legends, Fairy tales are found in oral and in literary form, the name fairy tale was first ascribed to them by Madame dAulnoy in the late 17th century. Many of todays fairy tales have evolved from stories that have appeared, with variations. The history of the tale is particularly difficult to trace because only the literary forms can survive. Still, according to researchers at universities in Durham and Lisbon, such stories may date back thousands of years, Fairy tales, and works derived from fairy tales, are still written today. Folklorists have classified fairy tales in various ways, the Aarne-Thompson classification system and the morphological analysis of Vladimir Propp are among the most notable. Other folklorists have interpreted the significance, but no school has been definitively established for the meaning of the tales. It moves in a world without definite locality or definite creatures and is filled with the marvelous. In this never-never land, humble heroes kill adversaries, succeed to kingdoms, a fairy tale with a tragic rather than a happy end is called an anti-fairy tale. Although the fairy tale is a genre within the larger category of folktale. The term itself comes from the translation of Madame DAulnoys conte de fées, Vladimir Propp, in his Morphology of the Folktale, criticized the common distinction between fairy tales and animal tales on the grounds that many tales contained both fantastic elements and animals. Were I asked, what is a fairytale, I should reply, Read Undine, that is a fairytale. of all fairytales I know, I think Undine the most beautiful. As Stith Thompson points out, talking animals and the presence of magic seem to be common to the fairy tale than fairies themselves. However, the presence of animals that talk does not make a tale a fairy tale, especially when the animal is clearly a mask on a human face. Steven Swann Jones identified the presence of magic as the feature by which fairy tales can be distinguished from other sorts of folktales, davidson and Chaudri identify transformation as the key feature of the genre
Fairy tale
–
1865 illustration of
Tom Thumb and the
Giant
Fairy tale
–
From
The Facetious Nights of Straparola by
Giovanni Francesco Straparola
Fairy tale
–
A picture by
Gustave Doré of
Mother Goose reading written (literary) fairy tales
Fairy tale
–
Ivan Bilibin 's illustration of the Russian fairy tale about
Vasilisa the Beautiful
4.
Brothers Grimm
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Their first collection of folk tales, Childrens and Household Tales, was published in 1812. The brothers spent their formative years in the German town of Hanau and their fathers death in 1796 caused great poverty for the family and affected the brothers for many years after. They both attended the University of Marburg where they developed a curiosity about German folklore, which grew into a dedication to collecting German folk tales. The rise of romanticism during the 19th century revived interest in folk stories. With the goal of researching a scholarly treatise on folk tales, between 1812 and 1857, their first collection was revised and republished many times, growing from 86 stories to more than 200. The popularity of the Grimms best folk tales has endured well, Jacob Ludwig Carl Grimm was born on 4 January 1785 and his brother Wilhelm Carl Grimm on 24 February 1786. They were the second- and third-eldest surviving siblings in a family of nine children, in 1791, the family moved to the countryside town of Steinau, when Philipp was employed there as district magistrate. The family became prominent members of the community, residing in a home surrounded by fields. Biographer Jack Zipes writes that the brothers were happy in Steinau, the children were educated at home by private tutors, receiving strict instruction as Lutherans that instilled in both a lifelong religious faith. In 1796, Philipp Grimm died of pneumonia, plunging his family into poverty, Dorothea depended on financial support from her father and sister, first lady-in-waiting at the court of William I, Elector of Hesse. Jacob was the eldest living son, and he was forced at age 11 to assume adult responsibilities for the two years. The two boys adhered to the advice of their grandfather, who continually exhorted them to be industrious, the brothers left Steinau and their family in 1798 to attend the Friedrichsgymnasium in Kassel, which had been arranged and paid for by their aunt. By then, they were without a provider, forcing them to rely entirely on each other. The two brothers differed in temperament, Jacob was introspective and Wilhelm was outgoing, sharing a strong work ethic, they excelled in their studies. In Kassel, they became aware of their inferior social status relative to high-born students who received more attention. Still, each brother graduated at the head of his class, Jacob in 1803, after graduation from the Friedrichsgymnasium, the brothers attended the University of Marburg. The university was small with about 200 students and there they became aware that students of lower social status were not treated equally. They were disqualified from admission because of their standing and had to request dispensation to study law
Brothers Grimm
–
Wilhelm Grimm (left) and Jacob Grimm in an 1855 painting by
Elisabeth Jerichau-Baumann
Brothers Grimm
–
Jacob and Wilhelm Grimm lived in this house in
Steinau from 1791 to 1796.
Brothers Grimm
–
Jacob Grimm lecturing (illustration by
Ludwig Emil Grimm, c. 1830)
Brothers Grimm
–
The graves of the Brothers Grimm in
Schöneberg, Berlin (St. Matthäus Kirchhof Cemetery)
5.
Alexander Afanasyev
–
Alexander Nikolayevich Afanasyev was a Russian Empire Slavist who published nearly 600 Russian folktales and fairytales—one of the largest folktale collections in the world. The first edition of his collection was published in eight fascicules from 1855–67 and he was educated at a high school in Voronezh and studied law at the University of Moscow, in which he attended the lectures of Konstantin Kavelin and Timofey Granovsky. He brought out a series of articles about leading personalities of the 18th century, being a progressive, he failed his final exams and could not have a chair in the university of Moscow. Luckily, he was appointed librarian in the Archives of Moscow in 1849, in that year, he was dismissed because of the scandal provoked by his publishing of the Russian Popular Religious Legends, which were a ferocious satire of the Orthodox clergy. After his dismissal, he had a lot of trouble finding a new job and was penniless and this didnt stop him from writing his big theoretical work, The Poetic Outlook of Slavs about Nature, which came out between 1865 and 1869. He died in Moscow aged 45, Afanasyev became interested in old Russian and Slav traditions and stories in the 1850s. In such an interpretation, he regarded the fairy tale Vasilisa the Beautiful as depicting the conflict between the sunlight, the storm, and dark clouds, in the early 1850s, being already known for his articles, Afanasyev began to think about a collection of folk tales. He was then asked by the Russian Geographical Society of Saint Petersburg to publish the folktales archives that the Society had been in possession of for about ten years and these archives are at the start of his Collection. Afanasyev chose 74 tales out of these and he added to them the enormous collection of Vladimir Dal, from which he kept 148 numbers, finding the other ones too distorted, his own collection, and a few other collections. He added already published tales, a few coming from epic songs, stories about the dead, a few medieval satirical texts. From the scientific point of view, his collection goes further and his collection was ahead of his time. Their obscene and anticlerical subject matter made their publication in Imperial Russia unthinkable, prior to Afanasyevs works in the 1850s, only a few attempts had ever been made to record or study the folk beliefs of peasant Russia. Though written Church Slavonic had existed since the 10th century, it was used almost solely by the church and it was not until the 18th and 19th centuries that a sizable body of secular literature developed in vernacular Russian. Thus, Afanasyevs collections made a valuable contribution to the dissemination and legitimization of Russian culture. The influence of folk tales can be seen in the works of many writers and composers, notably Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov. Townsend, Dorian Aleksandra, From Upyr to Vampire, The Slavic Vampire Myth in Russian Literature, dissertation, School of German and Russian Studies, Faculty of Arts & Social Sciences, University of New South Wales, May 2011. This article incorporates text from a now in the public domain, Brockhaus. Russian folk tales by Alexander Afanasiev
Alexander Afanasyev
–
Alexander Afanasyev
6.
Princess
–
Princess is a regal rank and the feminine equivalent of prince. Most often, the term has been used for the consort of a prince or for the daughters of a king or sovereign prince, some princesses are reigning monarchs of principalities. There have been instances of reigning princesses than reigning princes. Examples of princesses regnant have included Constance of Antioch, princess regnant of Antioch in the 12th century, as the President of France, an office for which women are eligible, is ex-officio co-Prince of Andorra, Andorra could theoretically be ruled by a co-Princess. For many centuries, the princess was not regularly used for a monarchs daughter. Old English had no equivalent of prince, earl, or any royal or noble title aside from queen. Royal women were addressed or referred to as The Lady. For example, Elizabeth and Mary, daughters of Henry VIII of England were often referred to as the Ladies Elizabeth. This practice, however, was not consistent, in the marriage contract between Prince George of Denmark and Anne, daughter of James I of Great Britain, Anne is referred to as The Princess Anne. Practice in Britain began to change in the 18th century, queen Victoria confirmed this practice in Letters Patent dated 30 January 1864. In European countries, a woman who marries a prince will almost always become a princess, from 1301 onward, the eldest sons of the Kings of England have generally been created Prince of Wales and Earl of Chester, and their wives have been titled Princess of Wales. This has so far applied to Diana, Princess of Wales and Sarah, Duchess of York
Princess
–
Royal, noble and
chivalric ranks
7.
King
–
King is the title given to a male monarch in a variety of contexts. The female equivalent is queen regnant, in the context of prehistory, antiquity and contemporary indigenous peoples, the title may refer to tribal kingship. Germanic kingship is cognate with Indo-European traditions of tribal rulership In the context of classical antiquity, king may translate Latin rex or either Greek archon or basileus. In classical European feudalism, the title of king as the ruler of a kingdom is understood as the highest rank in the order, potentially subject. In a modern context, the title may refer to the ruler of one of a number of modern monarchies. The title of king is used alongside other titles for monarchs, in the West prince, emperor, archduke, duke or grand duke, in the Middle East sultan or emir, etc. Kings, like other royalty, tend to wear purple because purple was a color to wear in the past. The English term king is derived from the Anglo-Saxon cyning, which in turn is derived from the Common Germanic *kuningaz, the Common Germanic term was borrowed into Estonian and Finnish at an early time, surviving in these languages as kuningas. The English term king translates, and is considered equivalent to, Latin rēx, the Germanic term is notably different from the word for king in other Indo-European languages. It is a derivation from the term *kunjom kin by the -inga- suffix, the literal meaning is that of a scion of the kin, or perhaps son or descendant of one of noble birth. English queen translates Latin regina, it is from Old English cwen queen, noble woman, the Germanic term for wife appears to have been specialized to wife of a king, in Old Norse, the cognate kvan still mostly refers to a wife generally. Scandinavian drottning, dronning is a derivation from *druhtinaz lord. The English word is of Germanic origin, and historically refers to Germanic kingship, the Early Middle Ages begin with a fragmentation of the former Western Roman Empire into barbarian kingdoms. The core of European feudal manorialism in the High Middle Ages were the territories of the kingdom of France, the Holy Roman Empire, in southern Europe, the kingdom of Sicily was established following the Norman conquest of southern Italy. The Kingdom of Sardinia was claimed as a title held by the Crown of Aragon in 1324. In the Balkans, the Kingdom of Serbia was established in 1217, in eastern-central Europe, the Kingdom of Hungary was established in AD1000 following the Christianisation of the Magyars. The kingdoms of Poland and Bohemia were established within the Holy Roman Empire in 1025 and 1198, in Eastern Europe, the Kievan Rus consolidated into the Grand Duchy of Moscow, which did not technically claim the status of kingdom until the early modern Tsardom of Russia. In northern Europe, the kingdoms of the Viking Age by the 11th century expanded into the North Sea Empire under Cnut the Great, king of Denmark, England
King
–
The nine European Monarchs who attended the
funeral of
King Edward VII of Britain, photographed at
Windsor Castle on 20 May 1910. Standing, from left to right:
King Haakon VII of Norway,
Tsar Ferdinand of Bulgaria,
King Manuel II of Portugal,
Kaiser Wilhelm II of Germany,
King George I of Greece and
King Albert I of Belgium. Seated, from left to right:
King Alfonso XIII of Spain,
King George V of Britain and
King Frederick VIII of Denmark.
King
King
–
Ramesses II, the third
Pharaoh of the
Nineteenth Dynasty of Egypt.
8.
Soldier
–
A soldier is one who fights as part of an organised, land-based armed force. A soldier can be a person, a non-commissioned officer. The word soldier derives from the Middle English word soudeour, from Old French soudeer or soudeour, meaning mercenary, from soudee, meaning shillings worth or wage, from sou or soud, the word is also related to the Medieval Latin soldarius, meaning soldier. These words ultimately derive from the Late Latin word solidus, referring to an Ancient Roman coin used in the Byzantine Empire. In most armed forces use of the soldier has taken on a more general meaning due to the increasing specialization of military occupations that require different areas of knowledge. In many countries soldiers serving in specific occupations are referred to by other than their occupational name. For example, military personnel in the British Army are known as red caps because of the colour of their caps. Infantry are sometimes called grunts or squaddies, while US Army artillery crews, or gunners, are referred to as redlegs. U. S. soldiers are often called G. I. s, members of the Marine Corps are typically referred to as marines rather than soldiers. In the United States, the term warfighter is often used to refer collectively to all whose job it is to do the actual fighting, the army has not completely phased out this terminology and still uses warfighter in various contexts such as the Project Manager Warfighter Information Network-Tactical. French Marine Infantry are called marsouins because of their amphibious role, Military units in most armies have nicknames of this type, arising either from items of distinctive uniform, some historical connotation or rivalry between branches or regiments. Some soldiers, such as conscripts or draftees, serve a limited term. Others choose to serve until retirement, then receive a pension. In the United States, military members can retire after 20 years, in other countries, the term of service is 30 years, hence the term 30-year man. Airman Marine Military use of children Seaman Media related to Soldier at Wikimedia Commons
Soldier
–
Israeli soldiers in April 2002
9.
Cloak of invisibility
–
A cloak of invisibility is a fictional theme and a device under some scientific inquiry. In folklore, mythology and fairy tales, a cloak of invisibility appears either as an item used by duplicitous characters or an item worn by a hero to fulfill a quest. It is a theme in Welsh and Germanic folklore. The motif falls under D1361.12 magic cloak of invisibility in the Stith Thompson motif index scheme, cloaks of invisibility are magical items found in folklore and fairy tales. Such cloaks are common in Welsh mythology, a Mantle of Invisibility is described in the tale Culhwch, the mantle is described again, and in more detail, in the Breuddwyd Rhonabwy, and is later listed as one of the Thirteen Treasures of the Island of Britain. A similar mantle appears in the Second Branch of the Mabinogi, in which it is used by Caswallawn to assassinate the seven stewards left behind by Bran the Blessed and usurp the throne. In the English fairy tale Jack the Giant Killer, the hero is rewarded with several magical gifts by a giant he has spared, the counterpart in Japan is the kakuremino, a magical straw cape or raincoat of invisibility. In the folktale of the Peach Boy Momotarō, one of the booty the hero collects from the ogres is a cape of invisibility, paralleling the story of Jack the giant-slayer. Although occurrences in fairy tales are rare, the cloak of invisibility appears in the German tale The Twelve Dancing Princesses and in The King of the Golden Mountain in Grimms Fairy Tales. The cloak in German fairy tales may be traceable to the tarnkappe, the Grimms clarify that Sîfrits kappe is a cape that covers not just the head but enshrouds the body, though in later times tarnkappe came to be regarded as a cap of invisibility. The tarnkappe is also owned by the king who is the title character in Laurin. In different passages or variant manuscripts of works, the tarnkappe is also referred to as the tarnhût or hehlkappe. In the original epic Nibelungenlied, the heros cloak not only grants him invisibility, in Richard Wagners opera cycle Der Ring des Nibelungen, the cloak becomes a magic helmet called the Tarnhelm, which also imparts the ability to transform upon its wearer. When Fritz Lang adapted Nibelungenlied for the screen in his 1924 film Die Nibelungen. Another film from the year to use a cloak of invisibility was Raoul Walshs The Thief of Bagdad. Edgar Rice Burroughs uses the idea of an invisibility cloak in his 1931 novel A Fighting Man of Mars, the movie Erik the Viking humorously depicts the title character using a cloak of invisibility, which he does not realize apparently works only on elderly men. In The Lord of the Rings, Frodos elven cloak camouflaged him so that the enemy could see nothing more than a boulder where the Hobbits were, camouflaging cloaks form a central plot element in Samuel R. Delanys 1975 novel Dhalgren. In the Harry Potter series of novels by J. K, rowling, Harry Potter uses a Cloak of Invisibility, that was passed down to him by his father, to sneak into forbidden areas of his school and remain unseen
Cloak of invisibility
–
Alberich puts on the Tarnkappe and vanishes; illustration by
Arthur Rackham to
Richard Wagner 's
Das Rheingold
10.
Rule of three (writing)
–
The rule of three, law of three, or power of three is a writing principle that suggests that things that come in threes are funnier, more satisfying, or more effective than other numbers of things. The reader or audience of this form of text is also more likely to remember the information. This is because having three entities combines both brevity and rhythm with having the smallest amount of information to create a pattern and it makes the author or speaker appear knowledgeable while being both simple and catchy. Slogans, film titles and a variety of things have been structured in threes. Examples include the Three Little Pigs, Three Billy Goats Gruff, similarly, adjectives are often grouped in threes to emphasize an idea. The Latin phrase omne trium perfectum conveys the idea as the rule of three. The rule of three can refer to a collection of three words, phrases, sentences, lines, paragraphs/stanzas, chapters/sections of writing and even whole books, the three elements together are known as a triad. The technique may be used not just in prose but poetry, oral storytelling, films, in photography the rule of thirds produces a similar effect by dividing an image into three vertically and horizontally. A tricolon is a specific use of the rule of three where three words or phrases are equal in length and grammatical form. A hendiatris is a figure of speech where three words are used to express a single central idea. As a slogan or motto, this is known as a tripartite motto, many advertising campaigns and public information slogans use the technique to create a catchy, memorable way of displaying information. In marketing theory, American advertising and sales pioneer St, if an advertisement contains these three qualities of success, it is a successful advertisement. In comedy, it is called a comic triple. The third element is used to create an effect of surprise with an audience. In storytelling in general, authors often create triplets or structures in three parts, in its simplest form, this is merely beginning, middle, and end, from Aristotles Poetics. Vladimir Propp, in his Morphology of the Folk Tale, concluded that any of the elements in a folk tale could be negated twice, so that it would repeat thrice. In The Silent Princess, a prince breaks a peasant womans pitcher thrice, and is cursed, in The Love for Three Oranges, the hero picks three magical oranges, and only with the third is able to keep the woman who springs out of it. In the musical Fiddler on the Roof, Tevye must give his three eldest daughters away, one after another and this is subverted with the youngest daughter who wishes to marry a Gentile, for which Tevye concludes that No, there is no other hand
Rule of three (writing)
–
The Three Bears
Rule of three (writing)
–
Snow White receives three visits from her wicked stepmother
11.
Hesse
–
Hesse or Hessia is a federal state of the Federal Republic of Germany, with just over six million inhabitants. The state capital is Wiesbaden, the largest city is Frankfurt am Main, the English name Hesse originates in the Hessian dialects. The variant Hessia comes from the medieval Latin Hassia, the German term Hessen is used by the European Commission because their policy is to leave regional names untranslated. The term Hesse ultimately derives from a Germanic tribe called the Chatti, an inhabitant of Hesse is called a Hessian. The synthetic element hassium, number 108 on the table, is named after the state of Hesse. As early as the Paleolithic period, the Central Hessian region was inhabited, due to the favorable climate of the location, people lived there about 50,000 years ago during the last glacial period, as burial sites show from this era. Finds of paleolitical tools in southern Hesse in Rüsselsheim suggest Pleistocene hunters about 13,000 years ago, the Züschen tomb is a prehistoric burial monument, located between Lohne and Züschen, near Fritzlar, Hesse, Germany. Classified as a grave or a Hessian-Westphalian stone cist, it is one of the most important megalithic monuments in Central Europe. Dating to the fourth millennium BC, it belongs to the Late Neolithic Wartberg culture. An early Celtic presence in what is now Hesse is indicated by a mid-fifth-century BC La Tène style burial uncovered at Glauberg, the region was later settled by the Germanic Chatti tribe around the first century BC, and the name Hesse is a continuation of that tribal name. The ancient Romans had a camp in Dorlar, and in Waldgirmes directly on the eastern outskirts of Wetzlar was a civil settlement under construction. Presumably, the government for the occupied territories of the right bank of Germania was planned at this location. The governor of Germania, at least temporarily, likely had resided here, the settlement appears to have been abandoned by the Romans after the devastating Battle of the Teutoburg Forest failed in the year 9 AD. The Chatti were also involved in the Revolt of the Batavi in 69 AD, Hessia occupies the northwestern part of the modern German state of Hesse, its borders were not clearly delineated. Its geographic center is Fritzlar, it extends in the southeast to Hersfeld on the Fulda river, in the north to past Kassel and up to the rivers Diemel, to the west, it occupies the valleys of the rivers Eder and Lahn. It measured roughly 90 kilometers north-south, and 80 north-west, the area around Fritzlar shows evidence of significant pagan belief from the first century on. Excavations have produced a horse burial and bronze artifacts, a possible religious cult may have centered on a natural spring in Geismar, called Heilgenbron, the name Geismar itself may be derived from that spring. By 650, the Franks were establishing themselves as overlords, which is suggested by evidence of burials
Hesse
–
Arms of
Grand Duchy of Hesse
Hesse
–
Flag
Hesse
–
State chancellery building in the capital city
Wiesbaden
Hesse
–
Frankfurt am Main
12.
Paderborn
–
Paderborn is a city in eastern North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany, capital of the Paderborn district. The name of the city derives from the river Pader and born, the river Pader originates in more than 200 springs near Paderborn Cathedral, where St. Liborius is buried. Paderborn was founded as a bishopric by Charlemagne in 795, although its history began in 777 when Charlemagne built a castle near the Pader springs. In 799 Pope Leo III fled his enemies in Rome and reached Paderborn, where he met Charlemagne and it was during this time that it was decided that Charlemagne would be crowned emperor. Charlemagne reinstated Leo in Rome in 800 and was crowned as Holy Roman Emperor by Leo in return, in 836, St. Liborius became the patron saint of Paderborn after his bones were moved there from Le Mans by Bishop Badurad. St. Liborius is commemorated in Paderborn every year in July with the Liborifest, the bishop of Paderborn, Meinwerk, became a Prince of the Empire in 1100. The bishop had several buildings built, and the area became a place for the emperors to stay. The city was taken by Prussia in 1802, then by the French vassal state Kingdom of Westphalia from 1807 to 1813, native Friedrich Sertürner, a pharmacists apprentice in Paderborn, was the first to isolate morphine from opium in 1804. In 1930, the See of Paderborn was promoted to archdiocese, during World War II, Paderborn was bombed by Allied aircraft in 1944 and 1945, resulting in 85% destruction, including many of the historic buildings. After the city was reconstructed in the 1940s and 1950s, Paderborn became an industrial seat in Westphalia. The British Army has retained a significant presence in the area, Paderborn is situated at the spring of the Pader river, approximately 30 kilometres east of Lippstadt and approximately 50 kilometres south of Bielefeld on the Pader river. The hills of the Eggegebirge are located east of the city, the city of Paderborn consists of the following Stadtteile, Paderborn has a population of over 144,000, of which approximately 10% are students at the local university. Additionally, about 10,000 members or relatives of members of the British armed forces live within Westfalen Garrison, 60% of the population are Catholics, 20% Lutherans and 20% other. Paderborn is the headquarters of the former Nixdorf Computer AG, which was acquired by Siemens in the early 1990s, the company is now known as Wincor Nixdorf which is still located in Paderborn, but Siemens retains a considerable presence in the city. Paderborn has the largest computer museum in the world, the de, from 2001 to 2005 it hosted the RoboCup German Open. The town supports the Nordwestdeutsche Philharmonie for regular symphony concerts in the Paderhalle, the city is known today for its exhibitions in three museums, the Kaiserpfalz, The Diocesian Museum and the Art Museum - Städtische Galerie. The local baseball team, the Paderborn Untouchables, has won many German championships, and the local American Football team, in 2006 the Paderborn Baskets, the home basketball team of the city achieved the Bundesliga. The Paderborn Baskets played in the playoffs of the 2008-09 German basketball league, SC Paderborn 07 is a German football club based in Paderborn
Paderborn
–
Paderborn town hall
Paderborn
Paderborn
–
Saint George 's church, Paderborn
Paderborn
–
Pader River, Stadt Mitte.
13.
Andrew Lang
–
Andrew Lang was a Scottish poet, novelist, literary critic, and contributor to the field of anthropology. He is best known as a collector of folk and fairy tales, the Andrew Lang lectures at the University of St Andrews are named after him. On 17 April 1875, he married Leonora Blanche Alleyne, youngest daughter of C. T. Alleyne of Clifton and she was variously credited as author, collaborator, or translator of Langs Color/Rainbow Fairy Books which he edited. He soon made a reputation as one of the most able and versatile writers of the day as a journalist, poet, critic, in 1906, he was elected FBA. He died of angina pectoris at the Tor-na-Coille Hotel in Banchory, Banchory and he was buried in the cathedral precincts at St Andrews. Lang is now known for his publications on folklore, mythology. The interest in folklore was from early life, he read John Ferguson McLennan before coming to Oxford, the earliest of his publications is Custom and Myth. In Myth, Ritual and Religion he explained the irrational elements of mythology as survivals from more primitive forms and his Blue Fairy Book was a beautifully produced and illustrated edition of fairy tales that has become a classic. This was followed by other collections of fairy tales, collectively known as Andrew Langs Fairy Books. In the preface of the Lilac Fairy Book he credits his wife with translating and transcribing most of the stories in the collections, Lang examined the origins of totemism in Social Origins. Lang was one of the founders of psychical research and his writings on anthropology include The Book of Dreams and Ghosts, Magic and Religion. He served as President of the Society for Psychical Research in 1911. He collaborated with S. H. Butcher in a translation of Homers Odyssey. He was a Homeric scholar of conservative views, Langs writings on Scottish history are characterised by a scholarly care for detail, a piquant literary style, and a gift for disentangling complicated questions. He also wrote monographs on The Portraits and Jewels of Mary Stuart and James VI, the somewhat unfavourable view of John Knox presented in his book John Knox and the Reformation aroused considerable controversy. He gave new information about the career of the Young Pretender in Pickle the Spy, an account of Alestair Ruadh MacDonnell, whom he identified with Pickle. This was followed by The Companions of Pickle and a monograph on Prince Charles Edward, in 1900 he began a History of Scotland from the Roman Occupation. He edited The Poems and Songs of Robert Burns, and was responsible for the Life and Letters of JG Lockhart, and The Life, Letters and Diaries of Sir Stafford Northcote, 1st Earl of Iddesleigh
Andrew Lang
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Andrew Lang
Andrew Lang
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"
Rumpelstiltskin," from Lang's Fairy Tales
Andrew Lang
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Andrew Lang at work.
Andrew Lang
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Blue plaque, 1 Marloes Road, Kensington, London
14.
Sumer
–
Living along the valleys of the Tigris and Euphrates, Sumerian farmers were able to grow an abundance of grain and other crops, the surplus of which enabled them to settle in one place. Proto-writing in the dates back to c.3000 BC. The earliest texts come from the cities of Uruk and Jemdet Nasr and date back to 3300 BC, modern historians have suggested that Sumer was first permanently settled between c.5500 and 4000 BC by a West Asian people who spoke the Sumerian language, an agglutinative language isolate. These conjectured, prehistoric people are now called proto-Euphrateans or Ubaidians, some scholars contest the idea of a Proto-Euphratean language or one substrate language. Reliable historical records begin much later, there are none in Sumer of any kind that have dated before Enmebaragesi. Juris Zarins believes the Sumerians lived along the coast of Eastern Arabia, todays Persian Gulf region, Sumerian civilization took form in the Uruk period, continuing into the Jemdet Nasr and Early Dynastic periods. During the 3rd millennium BC, a cultural symbiosis developed between the Sumerians, who spoke a language isolate, and Akkadian-speakers, which included widespread bilingualism. The influence of Sumerian on Akkadian is evident in all areas, from lexical borrowing on a scale, to syntactic, morphological. This has prompted scholars to refer to Sumerian and Akkadian in the 3rd millennium BC as a Sprachbund, Sumer was conquered by the Semitic-speaking kings of the Akkadian Empire around 2270 BC, but Sumerian continued as a sacred language. Native Sumerian rule re-emerged for about a century in the Neo-Sumerian Empire or Third Dynasty of Ur approximately 2100-2000 BC, the term Sumerian is the common name given to the ancient non-Semitic-speaking inhabitants of Mesopotamia, Sumer, by the East Semitic-speaking Akkadians. The Sumerians referred to themselves as ùĝ saĝ gíg ga, phonetically /uŋ saŋ gi ga/, literally meaning the black-headed people, the Akkadian word Shumer may represent the geographical name in dialect, but the phonological development leading to the Akkadian term šumerû is uncertain. Hebrew Shinar, Egyptian Sngr, and Hittite Šanhar, all referring to southern Mesopotamia, in the late 4th millennium BC, Sumer was divided into many independent city-states, which were divided by canals and boundary stones. Each was centered on a dedicated to the particular patron god or goddess of the city. The Sumerian city-states rose to power during the prehistoric Ubaid and Uruk periods, classical Sumer ends with the rise of the Akkadian Empire in the 23rd century BC. Following the Gutian period, there is a brief Sumerian Renaissance in the 21st century BC, the Amorite dynasty of Isin persisted until c.1700 BC, when Mesopotamia was united under Babylonian rule. The Sumerians were eventually absorbed into the Akkadian population, 2500–2334 BC Akkadian Empire period, c. 2218–2047 BC Ur III period, c, 2047–1940 BC The Ubaid period is marked by a distinctive style of fine quality painted pottery which spread throughout Mesopotamia and the Persian Gulf. It appears that this culture was derived from the Samarran culture from northern Mesopotamia and it is not known whether or not these were the actual Sumerians who are identified with the later Uruk culture
Sumer
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Map of Sumer
Sumer
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The
Samarra bowl, at the
Pergamonmuseum, Berlin. The
swastika in the center of the design is a reconstruction.
Sumer
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Fragment of
Eannatum 's
Stele of the Vultures
15.
Gilgamesh
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Gilgamesh is the main character in the Epic of Gilgamesh, an Akkadian poem that is considered the first great work of literature, and in earlier Sumerian poems. His name means something to the effect of The Ancestor is a Young-man, from Bil. ga = Ancestor, Elder and Mes/Mesh3 = Young-Man. Gilgamesh is generally seen by scholars as a figure, since inscriptions have been found which confirm the existence of other figures associated with him in the epic. If Gilgamesh existed, he probably was a king who reigned sometime between 2800 and 2500 BC, the Sumerian King List claims that Gilgamesh ruled the city of Uruk for 126 years. According to the Tummal Inscription, Gilgamesh and his son Urlugal rebuilt the sanctuary of the goddess Ninlil in Tummal, the story was discovered in the nineteenth century, and allows us to take a glimpse into the cultures and people of the region. This epic poetry is a cycle of Sumerian recordings, probably of an oral tradition in which he appears under the name Bilgamesh. These poems include many of the stories that would make up the later, more famous Epic of Gilgamesh, the latest and most comprehensive telling of the Gilgamesh legend was the twelve-tablet Standard Babylonian Version, compiled c.1200 BC by the exorcist-priest Sîn-lēqi-unninni. Fragments of a text found in Me-Turan relate that at the end of his life Gilgamesh was buried under the river bed. The people of Uruk diverted the flow of the Euphrates passing Uruk for the purpose of burying the dead king within the river bed, in April 2003, a German expedition claimed to have discovered his last resting place. Some of the Sumerian texts spell his name as Bilgamesh, initial difficulties in reading cuneiform resulted in Gilgameshs name being initially given as Izdubar when parts of the epic were first published in English in 1872. Although Gilgamesh was originally considered by scholars to be a semidivine hero, if Gilgamesh was a historical king, he probably reigned in about the 26th century BC. In the Qumran scroll known as Book of Giants the names of Gilgamesh and this same text was later used in the Middle East by the Manichaean sects, and the Arabic form Gilgamish/Jiljamish survives as the name of a demon according to the Egyptian cleric Al-Suyuti. The name Gilgamesh appears once in Greek, as Gilgamos, in Aelians De Natura Animalium 12.21. In Aelians story, the King of Babylon, Seuechorus or Euechorus, determined by oracle that his grandson Gilgamos would kill him, an eagle broke his fall, and the infant was found and raised by a gardener, eventually becoming king. Atra-Hasis David Demigod Enkidu Enûma Eliš Gilgamesh in popular culture Heracles Odysseus Samson Media related to Gilgamesh at Wikimedia Commons
Gilgamesh
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Louvre Museum
Gilgamesh
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Tablet V of the Epic of Gligamesh. Newly discovered. The Sulaymaniyah Museum, Iraq.
16.
Russia
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Russia, also officially the Russian Federation, is a country in Eurasia. The European western part of the country is more populated and urbanised than the eastern. Russias capital Moscow is one of the largest cities in the world, other urban centers include Saint Petersburg, Novosibirsk, Yekaterinburg, Nizhny Novgorod. Extending across the entirety of Northern Asia and much of Eastern Europe, Russia spans eleven time zones and incorporates a range of environments. It shares maritime borders with Japan by the Sea of Okhotsk, the East Slavs emerged as a recognizable group in Europe between the 3rd and 8th centuries AD. Founded and ruled by a Varangian warrior elite and their descendants, in 988 it adopted Orthodox Christianity from the Byzantine Empire, beginning the synthesis of Byzantine and Slavic cultures that defined Russian culture for the next millennium. Rus ultimately disintegrated into a number of states, most of the Rus lands were overrun by the Mongol invasion. The Soviet Union played a role in the Allied victory in World War II. The Soviet era saw some of the most significant technological achievements of the 20th century, including the worlds first human-made satellite and the launching of the first humans in space. By the end of 1990, the Soviet Union had the second largest economy, largest standing military in the world. It is governed as a federal semi-presidential republic, the Russian economy ranks as the twelfth largest by nominal GDP and sixth largest by purchasing power parity in 2015. Russias extensive mineral and energy resources are the largest such reserves in the world, making it one of the producers of oil. The country is one of the five recognized nuclear weapons states and possesses the largest stockpile of weapons of mass destruction, Russia is a great power as well as a regional power and has been characterised as a potential superpower. The name Russia is derived from Rus, a state populated mostly by the East Slavs. However, this name became more prominent in the later history, and the country typically was called by its inhabitants Русская Земля. In order to distinguish this state from other states derived from it, it is denoted as Kievan Rus by modern historiography, an old Latin version of the name Rus was Ruthenia, mostly applied to the western and southern regions of Rus that were adjacent to Catholic Europe. The current name of the country, Россия, comes from the Byzantine Greek designation of the Kievan Rus, the standard way to refer to citizens of Russia is Russians in English and rossiyane in Russian. There are two Russian words which are translated into English as Russians
Russia
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Kievan Rus' in the 11th century
Russia
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Flag
Russia
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The
Baptism of Kievans, by
Klavdy Lebedev
Russia
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Sergius of Radonezh blessing
Dmitry Donskoy in
Trinity Sergius Lavra, before the
Battle of Kulikovo, depicted in a painting by
Ernst Lissner
17.
Cape Verde
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Located 570 kilometres off the coast of West Africa, the islands cover a combined area of slightly over 4,000 square kilometres. The Cape Verde archipelago was uninhabited until the 15th century, when Portuguese explorers discovered and colonized the islands, ideally located for the Atlantic slave trade, the islands grew prosperous throughout the 16th and 17th centuries, attracting merchants, privateers, and pirates. The end of slavery in the 19th century led to economic decline, Cape Verde gradually recovered as an important commercial center and stopover for shipping routes. Incorporated as a department of Portugal in 1951, the islands continued to agitate for independence. Since the early 1990s, Cape Verde has been a representative democracy. Lacking natural resources, its economy is mostly service-oriented, with a growing focus on tourism. Its population of around 512,000 is mostly of mixed European and sub-Saharan African heritage, a sizeable diaspora community exists across the world, slightly outnumbering inhabitants on the islands. Historically, the name Cape Verde has been used in English for the archipelago and, since independence in 1975, for the country. In 2013, the Cape Verdean government determined that the Portuguese designation Cabo Verde would henceforth be used for official purposes, such as at the United Nations, Cape Verde is a member of the African Union. The name of the stems from the nearby Cap-Vert, on the Senegalese coast. In 1444 Portuguese explorers had named that landmark as Cabo Verde, on 24 October 2013, the countrys delegation announced at the United Nations that the official name should no longer be translated into other languages. Instead of Cape Verde, the designation Republic of Cabo Verde is to be used, before the arrival of Europeans, the Cape Verde Islands were uninhabited. The islands of the Cape Verde archipelago were discovered by Genoese and Portuguese navigators around 1456, according to Portuguese official records, the first discoveries were made by Genoa-born António de Noli, who was afterwards appointed governor of Cape Verde by Portuguese King Afonso V. Other navigators mentioned as contributing to discoveries in the Cape Verde archipelago are Diogo Gomes, Diogo Dias, Diogo Afonso, in 1462, Portuguese settlers arrived at Santiago and founded a settlement they called Ribeira Grande. Ribeira Grande was the first permanent European settlement in the tropics, in the 16th century, the archipelago prospered from the Atlantic slave trade. Pirates occasionally attacked the Portuguese settlements, sir Francis Drake, an English corsair privateering under a letter of marque granted by the English crown, twice sacked the capital Ribeira Grande in 1585 when it was a part of the Iberian Union. After a French attack in 1712, the town declined in relative to nearby Praia. Decline in the trade in the 19th century resulted in an economic crisis
Cape Verde
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Insulae Capitis Viridis (1598), showing Cape Verde.
Cape Verde
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Flag
Cape Verde
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A view of
Monte Cara from
Mindelo.
Cape Verde
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Cape Verdean Prime Minister
José Maria Neves meets with the US Secretary of Defense
Chuck Hagel, in 2013.
18.
India
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India, officially the Republic of India, is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by area, the second-most populous country, and it is bounded by the Indian Ocean on the south, the Arabian Sea on the southwest, and the Bay of Bengal on the southeast. It shares land borders with Pakistan to the west, China, Nepal, and Bhutan to the northeast, in the Indian Ocean, India is in the vicinity of Sri Lanka and the Maldives. Indias Andaman and Nicobar Islands share a border with Thailand. The Indian subcontinent was home to the urban Indus Valley Civilisation of the 3rd millennium BCE, in the following millennium, the oldest scriptures associated with Hinduism began to be composed. Social stratification, based on caste, emerged in the first millennium BCE, early political consolidations took place under the Maurya and Gupta empires, the later peninsular Middle Kingdoms influenced cultures as far as southeast Asia. In the medieval era, Judaism, Zoroastrianism, Christianity, and Islam arrived, much of the north fell to the Delhi sultanate, the south was united under the Vijayanagara Empire. The economy expanded in the 17th century in the Mughal empire, in the mid-18th century, the subcontinent came under British East India Company rule, and in the mid-19th under British crown rule. A nationalist movement emerged in the late 19th century, which later, under Mahatma Gandhi, was noted for nonviolent resistance, in 2015, the Indian economy was the worlds seventh largest by nominal GDP and third largest by purchasing power parity. Following market-based economic reforms in 1991, India became one of the major economies and is considered a newly industrialised country. However, it continues to face the challenges of poverty, corruption, malnutrition, a nuclear weapons state and regional power, it has the third largest standing army in the world and ranks sixth in military expenditure among nations. India is a constitutional republic governed under a parliamentary system. It is a pluralistic, multilingual and multi-ethnic society and is home to a diversity of wildlife in a variety of protected habitats. The name India is derived from Indus, which originates from the Old Persian word Hindu, the latter term stems from the Sanskrit word Sindhu, which was the historical local appellation for the Indus River. The ancient Greeks referred to the Indians as Indoi, which translates as The people of the Indus, the geographical term Bharat, which is recognised by the Constitution of India as an official name for the country, is used by many Indian languages in its variations. Scholars believe it to be named after the Vedic tribe of Bharatas in the second millennium B. C. E and it is also traditionally associated with the rule of the legendary emperor Bharata. Gaṇarājya is the Sanskrit/Hindi term for republic dating back to the ancient times, hindustan is a Persian name for India dating back to the 3rd century B. C. E. It was introduced into India by the Mughals and widely used since then and its meaning varied, referring to a region that encompassed northern India and Pakistan or India in its entirety
India
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Flag
India
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The granite
tower of
Brihadeeswarar Temple in
Thanjavur was completed in 1010 CE by
Raja Raja Chola I.
India
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Writing the will and testament of the Mughal king court in Persian, 1590–1595
19.
Armenia
–
Armenia, officially the Republic of Armenia, is a sovereign state in the South Caucasus region of Eurasia. The Republic of Armenia constitutes only one-tenth of historical Armenia, Armenia is a unitary, multi-party, democratic nation-state with an ancient cultural heritage. Urartu was established in 860 BC and by the 6th century BC it was replaced by the Satrapy of Armenia, in the 1st century BC the Kingdom of Armenia reached its height under Tigranes the Great. Armenia became the first state in the world to adopt Christianity as its official religion, in between the late 3rd century to early years of the 4th century, the state became the first Christian nation. The official date of adoption of Christianity is 301 AD. The ancient Armenian kingdom was split between the Byzantine and Sasanian Empires around the early 5th century, under the Bagratuni dynasty, the Bagratid Kingdom of Armenia was restored in the 9th century. Declining due to the wars against the Byzantines, the fell in 1045. An Armenian principality and later a kingdom Cilician Armenia was located on the coast of the Mediterranean Sea between the 11th and 14th centuries. By the 19th century, Eastern Armenia had been conquered by the Russian Empire, during World War I, Armenians living in their ancestral lands in the Ottoman Empire were systematically exterminated in the Armenian Genocide. By 1920, the state was incorporated into the Transcaucasian Socialist Federative Soviet Republic, in 1936, the Transcaucasian state was dissolved, transforming its constituent states, including the Armenian Soviet Socialist Republic, into full Union republics. The modern Republic of Armenia became independent in 1991 during the dissolution of the Soviet Union, the Republic of Armenia recognises the Armenian Apostolic Church, the worlds oldest national church, as the countrys primary religious establishment. The unique Armenian alphabet was invented by Mesrop Mashtots in 405 AD, Armenia is a member of the Eurasian Economic Union, the Council of Europe and the Collective Security Treaty Organization. Armenia supports the de facto independent Nagorno-Karabakh Republic, which was proclaimed in 1991, the native Armenian name for the country is Հայք. The name in the Middle Ages was extended to Հայաստան, by addition of the Persian suffix -stan, the further origin of the name is uncertain. It is also postulated that the name Hay comes from one of the two confederated, Hittite vassal states—the Ḫayaša-Azzi. The exonym Armenia is attested in the Old Persian Behistun Inscription as Armina, the ancient Greek terms Ἀρμενία and Ἀρμένιοι are first mentioned by Hecataeus of Miletus. Xenophon, a Greek general serving in some of the Persian expeditions, describes many aspects of Armenian village life and he relates that the people spoke a language that to his ear sounded like the language of the Persians. According to the histories of both Moses of Chorene and Michael Chamchian, Armenia derives from the name of Aram, a descendant of Hayk
Armenia
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Reconstruction of
Herodotus ' world map c. 450 BC, with Armenia shown in the center
Armenia
–
Flag
Armenia
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The Armenian pagan
Temple of Garni, probably built 1st century AD, is the only "Greco-Roman
colonnaded building" in Armenia and the entire
former Soviet Union.
Armenia
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The
Etchmiadzin Cathedral, Armenia's Mother Church traditionally dated 303 AD, is considered the oldest cathedral in the world.
20.
Hungary
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Hungary is a unitary parliamentary republic in Central Europe. With about 10 million inhabitants, Hungary is a member state of the European Union. The official language is Hungarian, which is the most widely spoken language in Europe. Hungarys capital and largest metropolis is Budapest, a significant economic hub, major urban areas include Debrecen, Szeged, Miskolc, Pécs and Győr. His great-grandson Stephen I ascended to the throne in 1000, converting the country to a Christian kingdom, by the 12th century, Hungary became a middle power within the Western world, reaching a golden age by the 15th century. Hungarys current borders were established in 1920 by the Treaty of Trianon after World War I, when the country lost 71% of its territory, 58% of its population, following the interwar period, Hungary joined the Axis Powers in World War II, suffering significant damage and casualties. Hungary became a state of the Soviet Union, which contributed to the establishment of a four-decade-long communist dictatorship. On 23 October 1989, Hungary became again a democratic parliamentary republic, in the 21st century, Hungary is a middle power and has the worlds 57th largest economy by nominal GDP, as well as the 58th largest by PPP, out of 188 countries measured by the IMF. As a substantial actor in several industrial and technological sectors, it is both the worlds 36th largest exporter and importer of goods, Hungary is a high-income economy with a very high standard of living. It keeps up a security and universal health care system. Hungary joined the European Union in 2004 and part of the Schengen Area since 2007, Hungary is a member of the United Nations, NATO, WTO, World Bank, the AIIB, the Council of Europe and Visegrád Group. Well known for its cultural history, Hungary has been contributed significantly to arts, music, literature, sports and science. Hungary is the 11th most popular country as a tourist destination in Europe and it is home to the largest thermal water cave system, the second largest thermal lake in the world, the largest lake in Central Europe, and the largest natural grasslands in Europe. The H in the name of Hungary is most likely due to historical associations with the Huns. The rest of the word comes from the Latinized form of Medieval Greek Oungroi, according to an explanation the Greek name was borrowed from Proto-Slavic Ǫgǔri, in turn borrowed from Oghur-Turkic Onogur. Onogur was the name for the tribes who later joined the Bulgar tribal confederacy that ruled the eastern parts of Hungary after the Avars. The Hungarians likely belonged to the Onogur tribal alliance and it is possible they became its ethnic majority. The Hungarian endonym is Magyarország, composed of magyar and ország, the word magyar is taken from the name of one of the seven major semi-nomadic Hungarian tribes, magyeri
Hungary
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Italian fresco depicting a Hungarian warrior shooting backwards
Hungary
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Flag
Hungary
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Hungarian raids in the 10th century
Hungary
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King
Saint Stephen, the first
King of Hungary, converted the nation to Christianity
21.
Iceland
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Iceland is a Nordic island country in the North Atlantic Ocean. It has a population of 332,529 and an area of 103,000 km2, the capital and largest city is Reykjavík. Reykjavík and the areas in the southwest of the country are home to over two-thirds of the population. Iceland is volcanically and geologically active, the interior consists of a plateau characterised by sand and lava fields, mountains and glaciers, while many glacial rivers flow to the sea through the lowlands. Iceland is warmed by the Gulf Stream and has a climate, despite a high latitude just outside the Arctic Circle. Its high latitude and marine influence still keeps summers chilly, with most of the archipelago having a tundra climate. According to the ancient manuscript Landnámabók, the settlement of Iceland began in the year 874 AD when the Norwegian chieftain Ingólfr Arnarson became the first permanent settler on the island. In the following centuries, Norwegians, and to a lesser extent other Scandinavians, emigrated to Iceland, the island was governed as an independent commonwealth under the Althing, one of the worlds oldest functioning legislative assemblies. Following a period of strife, Iceland acceded to Norwegian rule in the 13th century. The establishment of the Kalmar Union in 1397 united the kingdoms of Norway, Denmark, Iceland thus followed Norways integration to that Union and came under Danish rule after Swedens secession from that union in 1523. In the wake of the French revolution and the Napoleonic wars, Icelands struggle for independence took form and culminated in independence in 1918, until the 20th century, Iceland relied largely on subsistence fishing and agriculture, and was among the poorest in Europe. Industrialisation of the fisheries and Marshall Plan aid following World War II brought prosperity, in 1994, it became a part of the European Economic Area, which further diversified the economy into sectors such as finance, biotechnology, and manufacturing. Iceland has an economy with relatively low taxes compared to other OECD countries. It maintains a Nordic social welfare system that provides health care. Iceland ranks high in economic, political and social stability and equality, in 2013, it was ranked as the 13th most-developed country in the world by the United Nations Human Development Index. Iceland runs almost completely on renewable energy, some bankers were jailed, and the economy has made a significant recovery, in large part due to a surge in tourism. Icelandic culture is founded upon the nations Scandinavian heritage, most Icelanders are descendants of Germanic and Gaelic settlers. Icelandic, a North Germanic language, is descended from Old Norse and is related to Faroese
Iceland
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Norsemen Landing in Iceland – a 19th Century depiction by
Oscar Wergeland.
Iceland
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Flag
Iceland
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Ingólfr Arnarson (modern Icelandic: Ingólfur Arnarson), the first permanent Scandinavian settler in Iceland
Iceland
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Ósvör, a replica of an old fishing outpost outside
Bolungarvík
22.
Scotland
–
Scotland is a country that is part of the United Kingdom and covers the northern third of the island of Great Britain. It shares a border with England to the south, and is surrounded by the Atlantic Ocean, with the North Sea to the east. In addition to the mainland, the country is made up of more than 790 islands, including the Northern Isles, the Kingdom of Scotland emerged as an independent sovereign state in the Early Middle Ages and continued to exist until 1707. By inheritance in 1603, James VI, King of Scots, became King of England and King of Ireland, Scotland subsequently entered into a political union with the Kingdom of England on 1 May 1707 to create the new Kingdom of Great Britain. The union also created a new Parliament of Great Britain, which succeeded both the Parliament of Scotland and the Parliament of England. Within Scotland, the monarchy of the United Kingdom has continued to use a variety of styles, titles, the legal system within Scotland has also remained separate from those of England and Wales and Northern Ireland, Scotland constitutes a distinct jurisdiction in both public and private law. Glasgow, Scotlands largest city, was one of the worlds leading industrial cities. Other major urban areas are Aberdeen and Dundee, Scottish waters consist of a large sector of the North Atlantic and the North Sea, containing the largest oil reserves in the European Union. This has given Aberdeen, the third-largest city in Scotland, the title of Europes oil capital, following a referendum in 1997, a Scottish Parliament was re-established, in the form of a devolved unicameral legislature comprising 129 members, having authority over many areas of domestic policy. Scotland is represented in the UK Parliament by 59 MPs and in the European Parliament by 6 MEPs, Scotland is also a member nation of the British–Irish Council, and the British–Irish Parliamentary Assembly. Scotland comes from Scoti, the Latin name for the Gaels, the Late Latin word Scotia was initially used to refer to Ireland. By the 11th century at the latest, Scotia was being used to refer to Scotland north of the River Forth, alongside Albania or Albany, the use of the words Scots and Scotland to encompass all of what is now Scotland became common in the Late Middle Ages. Repeated glaciations, which covered the land mass of modern Scotland. It is believed the first post-glacial groups of hunter-gatherers arrived in Scotland around 12,800 years ago, the groups of settlers began building the first known permanent houses on Scottish soil around 9,500 years ago, and the first villages around 6,000 years ago. The well-preserved village of Skara Brae on the mainland of Orkney dates from this period and it contains the remains of an early Bronze Age ruler laid out on white quartz pebbles and birch bark. It was also discovered for the first time that early Bronze Age people placed flowers in their graves, in the winter of 1850, a severe storm hit Scotland, causing widespread damage and over 200 deaths. In the Bay of Skaill, the storm stripped the earth from a large irregular knoll, when the storm cleared, local villagers found the outline of a village, consisting of a number of small houses without roofs. William Watt of Skaill, the laird, began an amateur excavation of the site, but after uncovering four houses
Scotland
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Edinburgh Castle. Human habitation of the site is dated back as far as the 9th century BC, although the nature of this early settlement is unclear.
Scotland
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Flag
Scotland
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The class I
Pictish stone at
Aberlemno known as Aberlemno 1 or the Serpent Stone.
Scotland
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The
Wallace Monument commemorates
William Wallace, the 13th-century Scottish hero.
23.
Bengal
–
Bengal is a geopolitical, cultural and historical region in Asia, which is located in the eastern part of the Indian subcontinent at the apex of the Bay of Bengal. Geographically, it is made up by the Ganges-Brahmaputra delta system, in 2011, the population of Bengal was estimated to be 250 million, making it the most densely populated region in South Asia. An estimated 160 million people live in Bangladesh, while 91.3 million people live in West Bengal, the predominant ethno-linguistic group are the Bengali people, who speak the Indo-Aryan Bengali language. Bengali Muslims are the majority in Bangladesh, Bengali Hindus are the majority in West Bengal. Dense woodlands, including rainforests, cover Bengals northern and eastern areas. In the littoral southwest are the Sunderbans, the worlds largest mangrove forest, in the coastal southeast lies Coxs Bazaar, the longest beach in the world at 125 km. The region has a climate, which the Bengali calendar divides into six seasons. Bengal has played a role in the history of Asia. In antiquity, its kingdoms were known as seafaring nations, at times an independent regional empire, or a bastion of larger empires, the historical region was a leading power of the Indian subcontinent and the Islamic East. Bengali culture has had a significant influence on other cultures, especially in the fields of literature, music, art, architecture, sports, currency, commerce, politics and cuisine. The name of Bengal is derived from the ancient kingdom of Banga, theories on the origin of the term Banga point to the Proto-Dravidian Bong tribe that settled in the area circa 1000 BCE and the Austric word Bong. The term Bangaladesa is used to describe the region in 11th century South Indian records, the modern term Bangla is prominent from the 14th century, which saw the establishment of the Sultanate of Bengal, whose first ruler Shamsuddin Ilyas Shah was known as the Shah of Bangala. The Portuguese referred to the region as Bengala in the Age of Discovery, most of the Bengal region lies in the Ganges-Brahmaputra delta, but there are highlands in its north, northeast and southeast. The Ganges Delta arises from the confluence of the rivers Ganges, Brahmaputra, the total area of Bengal is 232,752 km2—West Bengal is 88,752 km2 and Bangladesh 147,570 km2. The flat and fertile Bangladesh Plain dominates the geography of Bangladesh, the Chittagong Hill Tracts and Sylhet regions are home to most of the mountains in Bangladesh. Most parts of Bangladesh are within 10 metres above the sea level, because of this low elevation, much of this region is exceptionally vulnerable to seasonal flooding due to monsoons. The highest point in Bangladesh is in Mowdok range at 1,052 metres, a major part of the coastline comprises a marshy jungle, the Sundarbans, the largest mangrove forest in the world and home to diverse flora and fauna, including the royal Bengal tiger. In 1997, this region was declared endangered, West Bengal is on the eastern bottleneck of India, stretching from the Himalayas in the north to the Bay of Bengal in the south
Bengal
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Map of Hindoostan in 1831 with Bengal (Green colored at the right)
Bengal
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Map of the Bengal region
Bengal
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Mahasthangarh is the oldest archaeological site in
Bangladesh. It dates back to 700 BC and was the ancient capital of the
Pundra Kingdom.
Bengal
–
Asia in 323 BC, the
Nanda Empire of
Magadha and
Gangaridai Empire of Bengal in relation to
Alexander 's Empire and neighbours.
24.
Turkey
–
Turkey, officially the Republic of Turkey, is a transcontinental country in Eurasia, mainly in Anatolia in Western Asia, with a smaller portion on the Balkan peninsula in Southeast Europe. Turkey is a democratic, secular, unitary, parliamentary republic with a cultural heritage. The country is encircled by seas on three sides, the Aegean Sea is to the west, the Black Sea to the north, and the Mediterranean Sea to the south. The Bosphorus, the Sea of Marmara, and the Dardanelles, Ankara is the capital while Istanbul is the countrys largest city and main cultural and commercial centre. Approximately 70-80% of the countrys citizens identify themselves as ethnic Turks, other ethnic groups include legally recognised and unrecognised minorities. Kurds are the largest ethnic minority group, making up approximately 20% of the population, the area of Turkey has been inhabited since the Paleolithic by various ancient Anatolian civilisations, as well as Assyrians, Greeks, Thracians, Phrygians, Urartians and Armenians. After Alexander the Greats conquest, the area was Hellenized, a process continued under the Roman Empire. The Seljuk Sultanate of Rûm ruled Anatolia until the Mongol invasion in 1243, the empire reached the peak of its power in the 16th century, especially during the reign of Suleiman the Magnificent. During the war, the Ottoman government committed genocides against its Armenian, Assyrian, following the war, the conglomeration of territories and peoples that formerly comprised the Ottoman Empire was partitioned into several new states. Turkey is a member of the UN, an early member of NATO. Turkeys growing economy and diplomatic initiatives have led to its recognition as a regional power while her location has given it geopolitical, the name of Turkey is based on the ethnonym Türk. The first recorded use of the term Türk or Türük as an autonym is contained in the Old Turkic inscriptions of the Göktürks of Central Asia, the English name Turkey first appeared in the late 14th century and is derived from Medieval Latin Turchia. Similarly, the medieval Khazar Empire, a Turkic state on the shores of the Black. The medieval Arabs referred to the Mamluk Sultanate as al-Dawla al-Turkiyya, the Ottoman Empire was sometimes referred to as Turkey or the Turkish Empire among its European contemporaries. The Anatolian peninsula, comprising most of modern Turkey, is one of the oldest permanently settled regions in the world, various ancient Anatolian populations have lived in Anatolia, from at least the Neolithic period until the Hellenistic period. Many of these peoples spoke the Anatolian languages, a branch of the larger Indo-European language family, in fact, given the antiquity of the Indo-European Hittite and Luwian languages, some scholars have proposed Anatolia as the hypothetical centre from which the Indo-European languages radiated. The European part of Turkey, called Eastern Thrace, has also been inhabited since at least forty years ago. It is the largest and best-preserved Neolithic site found to date, the settlement of Troy started in the Neolithic Age and continued into the Iron Age
Turkey
–
Some
henges at
Göbekli Tepe were erected as far back as 12,000 BC, predating those of
Stonehenge,
England by almost ten millennia.
Turkey
–
Flag
Turkey
–
The Lion Gate in
Hattusa, capital of the
Hittite Empire. The city's history dates back to the 6th millennium BC.
Turkey
–
The
Library of Celsus in
Ephesus was built by the
Romans in 135 AD. The
Temple of Artemis in Ephesus, built by king
Croesus of
Lydia in the 6th century BC, was one of the
Seven Wonders of the Ancient World.
25.
Portugal
–
Portugal, officially the Portuguese Republic, is a country on the Iberian Peninsula in Southwestern Europe. It is the westernmost country of mainland Europe, to the west and south it is bordered by the Atlantic Ocean and to the east and north by Spain. The Portugal–Spain border is 1,214 kilometres long and considered the longest uninterrupted border within the European Union, the republic also includes the Atlantic archipelagos of the Azores and Madeira, both autonomous regions with their own regional governments. The territory of modern Portugal has been settled, invaded. The Pre-Celts, Celts, Carthaginians and the Romans were followed by the invasions of the Visigothic, in 711 the Iberian Peninsula was invaded by the Moors, making Portugal part of Muslim Al Andalus. Portugal was born as result of the Christian Reconquista, and in 1139, Afonso Henriques was proclaimed King of Portugal, in the 15th and 16th centuries, Portugal established the first global empire, becoming one of the worlds major economic, political and military powers. Portugal monopolized the trade during this time, and the Portuguese Empire expanded with military campaigns led in Asia. After the 1910 revolution deposed the monarchy, the democratic but unstable Portuguese First Republic was established, democracy was restored after the Portuguese Colonial War and the Carnation Revolution in 1974. Shortly after, independence was granted to almost all its overseas territories, Portugal has left a profound cultural and architectural influence across the globe and a legacy of over 250 million Portuguese speakers today. Portugal is a country with a high-income advanced economy and a high living standard. It is the 5th most peaceful country in the world, maintaining a unitary semi-presidential republican form of government and it has the 18th highest Social Progress in the world, putting it ahead of other Western European countries like France, Spain and Italy. Portugal is a pioneer when it comes to drug decriminalization, as the nation decriminalized the possession of all drugs for use in 2001. The early history of Portugal is shared with the rest of the Iberian Peninsula located in South Western Europe, the name of Portugal derives from the joined Romano-Celtic name Portus Cale. Other influences include some 5th-century vestiges of Alan settlements, which were found in Alenquer, Coimbra, the region of present-day Portugal was inhabited by Neanderthals and then by Homo sapiens, who roamed the border-less region of the northern Iberian peninsula. These were subsistence societies that, although they did not establish prosperous settlements, neolithic Portugal experimented with domestication of herding animals, the raising of some cereal crops and fluvial or marine fishing. Chief among these tribes were the Calaicians or Gallaeci of Northern Portugal, the Lusitanians of central Portugal, the Celtici of Alentejo, a few small, semi-permanent, commercial coastal settlements were also founded in the Algarve region by Phoenicians-Carthaginians. Romans first invaded the Iberian Peninsula in 219 BC, during the last days of Julius Caesar, almost the entire peninsula had been annexed to the Roman Republic. The Carthaginians, Romes adversary in the Punic Wars, were expelled from their coastal colonies and it suffered a severe setback in 150 BC, when a rebellion began in the north
Portugal
–
Citânia de Briteiros, in the
Minho Province, is the best preserved
Iron Age and
Castro culture site in Portugal.
Portugal
–
Flag
Portugal
–
The
Roman Temple of Évora, in the
Alentejo, is a symbol of
Lusitania, Roman rule in Portugal.
Portugal
–
Monument in Porto to
Vimara Peres, first ruler of the County of Portugal
26.
Denmark
–
Denmark, officially the Kingdom of Denmark, is a Scandinavian country in Europe and a sovereign state. The southernmost and smallest of the Nordic countries, it is south-west of Sweden and south of Norway, Denmark also comprises two autonomous constituent countries in the North Atlantic Ocean, the Faroe Islands and Greenland. Denmark has an area of 42,924 square kilometres. The country consists of a peninsula, Jutland, and an archipelago of 443 named islands, with the largest being Zealand, the islands are characterised by flat, arable land and sandy coasts, low elevation and a temperate climate. The unified kingdom of Denmark emerged in the 10th century as a proficient seafaring nation in the struggle for control of the Baltic Sea, Denmark, Sweden and Norway were ruled together under the Kalmar Union, established in 1397 and ending with Swedish secession in 1523. Denmark and Norway remained under the monarch until outside forces dissolved the union in 1814. The union with Norway made it possible for Denmark to inherit the Faroe Islands, Iceland, beginning in the 17th century, there were several cessions of territory to Sweden. In the 19th century there was a surge of nationalist movements, Denmark remained neutral during World War I. In April 1940, a German invasion saw brief military skirmishes while the Danish resistance movement was active from 1943 until the German surrender in May 1945, the Constitution of Denmark was signed on 5 June 1849, ending the absolute monarchy which had begun in 1660. It establishes a constitutional monarchy organised as a parliamentary democracy, the government and national parliament are seated in Copenhagen, the nations capital, largest city and main commercial centre. Denmark exercises hegemonic influence in the Danish Realm, devolving powers to handle internal affairs, Home rule was established in the Faroe Islands in 1948, in Greenland home rule was established in 1979 and further autonomy in 2009. Denmark became a member of the European Economic Community in 1973, maintaining certain opt-outs, it retains its own currency, the krone. It is among the members of NATO, the Nordic Council, the OECD, OSCE. The etymology of the word Denmark, and especially the relationship between Danes and Denmark and the unifying of Denmark as a kingdom, is a subject which attracts debate. This is centred primarily on the prefix Dan and whether it refers to the Dani or a historical person Dan and the exact meaning of the -mark ending. Most handbooks derive the first part of the word, and the name of the people, from a word meaning land, related to German Tenne threshing floor. The -mark is believed to mean woodland or borderland, with references to the border forests in south Schleswig. The first recorded use of the word Danmark within Denmark itself is found on the two Jelling stones, which are believed to have been erected by Gorm the Old and Harald Bluetooth
Denmark
–
The gilded side of the
Trundholm sun chariot dating from the Nordic Bronze Age.
Denmark
–
Flag
Denmark
–
The
Ladby ship, the largest ship burial found in Denmark.
Denmark
–
Larger of the two Jelling stones, raised by
Harald Bluetooth.
27.
Germany
–
Germany, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a federal parliamentary republic in central-western Europe. It includes 16 constituent states, covers an area of 357,021 square kilometres, with about 82 million inhabitants, Germany is the most populous member state of the European Union. After the United States, it is the second most popular destination in the world. Germanys capital and largest metropolis is Berlin, while its largest conurbation is the Ruhr, other major cities include Hamburg, Munich, Cologne, Frankfurt, Stuttgart, Düsseldorf and Leipzig. Various Germanic tribes have inhabited the northern parts of modern Germany since classical antiquity, a region named Germania was documented before 100 AD. During the Migration Period the Germanic tribes expanded southward, beginning in the 10th century, German territories formed a central part of the Holy Roman Empire. During the 16th century, northern German regions became the centre of the Protestant Reformation, in 1871, Germany became a nation state when most of the German states unified into the Prussian-dominated German Empire. After World War I and the German Revolution of 1918–1919, the Empire was replaced by the parliamentary Weimar Republic, the establishment of the national socialist dictatorship in 1933 led to World War II and the Holocaust. After a period of Allied occupation, two German states were founded, the Federal Republic of Germany and the German Democratic Republic, in 1990, the country was reunified. In the 21st century, Germany is a power and has the worlds fourth-largest economy by nominal GDP. As a global leader in industrial and technological sectors, it is both the worlds third-largest exporter and importer of goods. Germany is a country with a very high standard of living sustained by a skilled. It upholds a social security and universal health system, environmental protection. Germany was a member of the European Economic Community in 1957. It is part of the Schengen Area, and became a co-founder of the Eurozone in 1999, Germany is a member of the United Nations, NATO, the G8, the G20, and the OECD. The national military expenditure is the 9th highest in the world, the English word Germany derives from the Latin Germania, which came into use after Julius Caesar adopted it for the peoples east of the Rhine. This in turn descends from Proto-Germanic *þiudiskaz popular, derived from *þeudō, descended from Proto-Indo-European *tewtéh₂- people, the discovery of the Mauer 1 mandible shows that ancient humans were present in Germany at least 600,000 years ago. The oldest complete hunting weapons found anywhere in the world were discovered in a mine in Schöningen where three 380, 000-year-old wooden javelins were unearthed
Germany
–
The
Nebra sky disk is dated to c. 1600 BC.
Germany
–
Flag
Germany
–
Martin Luther (1483–1546) initiated the
Protestant Reformation.
Germany
–
Foundation of the
German Empire in
Versailles, 1871.
Bismarck is at the center in a white uniform.
28.
Romania
–
Romania is a sovereign state located in Southeastern Europe. It borders the Black Sea, Bulgaria, Ukraine, Hungary, Serbia and it has an area of 238,391 square kilometres and a temperate-continental climate. With over 19 million inhabitants, the country is the member state of the European Union. Its capital and largest city, Bucharest, is the sixth-largest city in the EU, the River Danube, Europes second-longest river, rises in Germany and flows in a general southeast direction for 2,857 km, coursing through ten countries before emptying into Romanias Danube Delta. The Carpathian Mountains, which cross Romania from the north to the southwest are marked by one of their tallest peaks, Moldoveanu, modern Romania was formed in 1859 through a personal union of the Danubian Principalities of Moldavia and Wallachia. The new state, officially named Romania since 1866, gained independence from the Ottoman Empire in 1877, at the end of World War I, Transylvania, Bukovina and Bessarabia united with the sovereign Kingdom of Romania. Romania lost several territories, of which Northern Transylvania was regained after the war, following the war, Romania became a socialist republic and member of the Warsaw Pact. After the 1989 Revolution, Romania began a transition towards democracy and it has been a member of NATO since 2004, and part of the European Union since 2007. A strong majority of the population identify themselves as Eastern Orthodox Christians and are speakers of Romanian. The cultural history of Romania is often referred to when dealing with artists, musicians, inventors. For similar reasons, Romania has been the subject of notable tourist attractions, Romania derives from the Latin romanus, meaning citizen of Rome. The first known use of the appellation was attested in the 16th century by Italian humanists travelling in Transylvania, Moldavia, after the abolition of serfdom in 1746, the word rumân gradually fell out of use and the spelling stabilised to the form român. Tudor Vladimirescu, a leader of the early 19th century. The use of the name Romania to refer to the homeland of all Romanians—its modern-day meaning—was first documented in the early 19th century. The name has been officially in use since 11 December 1861, in English, the name of the country was formerly spelt Rumania or Roumania. Romania became the predominant spelling around 1975, Romania is also the official English-language spelling used by the Romanian government. The Neolithic-Age Cucuteni area in northeastern Romania was the region of the earliest European civilization. Evidence from this and other sites indicates that the Cucuteni-Trypillian culture extracted salt from salt-laden spring water through the process of briquetage
Romania
–
Neacșu's letter from 1521, the oldest surviving document written in
Romanian.
Romania
–
Flag
Romania
–
Writ issued on 14 October 1465 by
Radu cel Frumos, from his residence in
Bucharest, indicating
Ottoman victory.
Romania
–
A 1917 British map showing territories with majority Romanian populations.
29.
Czech Republic
–
The Czech Republic, also known as Czechia, is a nation state in Central Europe bordered by Germany to the west, Austria to the south, Slovakia to the east and Poland to the northeast. The Czech Republic covers an area of 78,866 square kilometres with mostly temperate continental climate and it is a unitary parliamentary republic, has 10.5 million inhabitants and the capital and largest city is Prague, with over 1.2 million residents. The Czech Republic includes the territories of Bohemia, Moravia. The Czech state was formed in the late 9th century as the Duchy of Bohemia under the Great Moravian Empire, after the fall of the Empire in 907, the centre of power transferred from Moravia to Bohemia under the Přemyslid dynasty. In 1002, the duchy was formally recognized as part of the Holy Roman Empire, becoming the Kingdom of Bohemia in 1198 and reaching its greatest territorial extent in the 14th century. Following the Battle of Mohács in 1526, the whole Crown of Bohemia was gradually integrated into the Habsburg Monarchy alongside the Archduchy of Austria, the Protestant Bohemian Revolt against the Catholic Habsburgs led to the Thirty Years War. After the Battle of the White Mountain, the Habsburgs consolidated their rule, reimposed Roman Catholicism, the Czech part of Czechoslovakia was occupied by Germany in World War II, and was liberated in 1945 by the armies of the Soviet Union and the United States. The Czech country lost the majority of its German-speaking inhabitants after they were expelled following the war, the Communist Party of Czechoslovakia won the 1946 elections. Following the 1948 coup détat, Czechoslovakia became a one-party communist state under Soviet influence, in 1968, increasing dissatisfaction with the regime culminated in a reform movement known as the Prague Spring, which ended in a Soviet-led invasion. Czechoslovakia remained occupied until the 1989 Velvet Revolution, when the communist regime collapsed, on 6 March 1990, the Czech Socialistic Republic was renamed to the Czech Republic. On 1 January 1993, Czechoslovakia peacefully dissolved, with its constituent states becoming the independent states of the Czech Republic and the Slovak Republic. The Czech Republic joined NATO in 1999 and the European Union in 2004, it is a member of the United Nations, the OECD, the OSCE, and it is a developed country with an advanced, high income economy and high living standards. The UNDP ranks the country 14th in inequality-adjusted human development, the Czech Republic also ranks as the 6th most peaceful country, while achieving strong performance in democratic governance. It has the lowest unemployment rate in the European Union, the traditional English name Bohemia derives from Latin Boiohaemum, which means home of the Boii. The current name comes from the endonym Čech, spelled Cžech until the reform in 1842. The name comes from the Slavic tribe and, according to legend, their leader Čech, the etymology of the word Čech can be traced back to the Proto-Slavic root *čel-, meaning member of the people, kinsman, thus making it cognate to the Czech word člověk. The country has traditionally divided into three lands, namely Bohemia in the west, Moravia in the southeast, and Czech Silesia in the northeast. Following the dissolution of Czechoslovakia at the end of 1992, the Czech part of the former nation found itself without a common single-word geographical name in English, the name Czechia /ˈtʃɛkiə/ was recommended by the Czech Ministry of Foreign Affairs
Czech Republic
–
Přemysl Ottokar II,
King of Bohemia (1253–1278) and
Duke of Austria (1251–1278)
Czech Republic
–
Flag
Czech Republic
–
The
Crown of Saint Wenceslas is the 4th oldest in Europe
Czech Republic
–
The
Defenestration of Prague sparked the
Thirty Years' War
30.
Slovakia
–
Slovakia, officially the Slovak Republic, is a landlocked country in Central Europe. It is bordered by the Czech Republic and Austria to the west, Poland to the north, Ukraine to the east, Slovakias territory spans about 49,000 square kilometres and is mostly mountainous. The population is over 5 million and comprises mostly ethnic Slovaks, the capital and largest city is Bratislava. The Slavs arrived in the territory of present-day Slovakia in the 5th and 6th centuries, in the 7th century, they played a significant role in the creation of Samos Empire and in the 9th century established the Principality of Nitra. In the 10th century, the territory was integrated into the Kingdom of Hungary, which became part of the Habsburg Empire. After World War I and the dissolution of the Austro-Hungarian Empire, a separate Slovak Republic existed in World War II as a client state of Nazi Germany. In 1945, Czechoslovakia was reëstablished under Communist rule as a Soviet satellite, in 1989 the Velvet Revolution ended authoritarian Communist rule in Czechoslovakia. Slovakia became an independent state on 1 January 1993 after the dissolution of Czechoslovakia. The country maintains a combination of economy with universal health care. The country joined the European Union in 2004 and the Eurozone on 1 January 2009, Slovakia is also a member of the Schengen Area, NATO, the United Nations, the OECD, the WTO, CERN, the OSCE, the Council of Europe and the Visegrád Group. The Slovak economy is one of the fastest growing economies in Europe and its legal tender, the Euro, is the worlds 2nd most traded currency. Although regional income inequality is high, 90% of citizens own their homes, in 2016, Slovak citizens had visa-free or visa-on-arrival access to 165 countries and territories, ranking the Slovak passport 11th in the world. Slovakia is the world’s biggest per-capita car producer with a total of 1,040,000 cars manufactured in the country in 2016 alone, the car industry represents 43 percent of Slovakia’s industrial output, and a quarter of its exports. Radiocarbon datingputs the oldest surviving archaeological artefacts from Slovakia – found near Nové Mesto nad Váhom – at 270,000 BC and these ancient tools, made by the Clactonian technique, bear witness to the ancient habitation of Slovakia. Other stone tools from the Middle Paleolithic era come from the Prévôt cave near Bojnice, the most important discovery from that era is a Neanderthal cranium, discovered near Gánovce, a village in northern Slovakia. The most well-known finds include the oldest female statue made of mammoth-bone, the statue was found in the 1940s in Moravany nad Váhom near Piešťany. Numerous necklaces made of shells from Cypraca thermophile gastropods of the Tertiary period have come from the sites of Zákovská, Podkovice, Hubina and these findings provide the most ancient evidence of commercial exchanges carried out between the Mediterranean and Central Europe. The Bronze Age in the territory of modern-day Slovakia went through three stages of development, stretching from 2000 to 800 BC
Slovakia
–
A
Venus from
Moravany nad Váhom, which dates back to 22,800 BC.
Slovakia
–
Flag
Slovakia
–
Left: A
Celtic Biatec coin Right: Five
Slovak crowns
Slovakia
–
A Roman inscription at the castle hill of
Trenčín (178–179 AD).
31.
France
–
France, officially the French Republic, is a country with territory in western Europe and several overseas regions and territories. The European, or metropolitan, area of France extends from the Mediterranean Sea to the English Channel and the North Sea, Overseas France include French Guiana on the South American continent and several island territories in the Atlantic, Pacific and Indian oceans. France spans 643,801 square kilometres and had a population of almost 67 million people as of January 2017. It is a unitary republic with the capital in Paris. Other major urban centres include Marseille, Lyon, Lille, Nice, Toulouse, during the Iron Age, what is now metropolitan France was inhabited by the Gauls, a Celtic people. The area was annexed in 51 BC by Rome, which held Gaul until 486, France emerged as a major European power in the Late Middle Ages, with its victory in the Hundred Years War strengthening state-building and political centralisation. During the Renaissance, French culture flourished and a colonial empire was established. The 16th century was dominated by civil wars between Catholics and Protestants. France became Europes dominant cultural, political, and military power under Louis XIV, in the 19th century Napoleon took power and established the First French Empire, whose subsequent Napoleonic Wars shaped the course of continental Europe. Following the collapse of the Empire, France endured a succession of governments culminating with the establishment of the French Third Republic in 1870. Following liberation in 1944, a Fourth Republic was established and later dissolved in the course of the Algerian War, the Fifth Republic, led by Charles de Gaulle, was formed in 1958 and remains to this day. Algeria and nearly all the colonies became independent in the 1960s with minimal controversy and typically retained close economic. France has long been a centre of art, science. It hosts Europes fourth-largest number of cultural UNESCO World Heritage Sites and receives around 83 million foreign tourists annually, France is a developed country with the worlds sixth-largest economy by nominal GDP and ninth-largest by purchasing power parity. In terms of household wealth, it ranks fourth in the world. France performs well in international rankings of education, health care, life expectancy, France remains a great power in the world, being one of the five permanent members of the United Nations Security Council with the power to veto and an official nuclear-weapon state. It is a member state of the European Union and the Eurozone. It is also a member of the Group of 7, North Atlantic Treaty Organization, Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development, the World Trade Organization, originally applied to the whole Frankish Empire, the name France comes from the Latin Francia, or country of the Franks
France
–
One of the
Lascaux paintings: a horse –
Dordogne, approximately 18,000 BC
France
–
Flag
France
–
The
Maison Carrée was a temple of the
Gallo-Roman city of Nemausus (present-day
Nîmes) and is one of the best preserved vestiges of the
Roman Empire.
France
–
With
Clovis ' conversion to Catholicism in 498, the
Frankish monarchy,
elective and
secular until then, became
hereditary and of
divine right.
32.
Jeanette Winterson
–
Some of her other novels have explored gender polarities and sexual identity. Winterson is also a broadcaster and a professor of creative writing and she is a two-time winner of the Lambda Literary Award, which focuses on LGBT issues. Winterson was born in Manchester and adopted by Constance and John William Winterson on 21 January 1960 and she grew up in Accrington, Lancashire, and was raised in the Elim Pentecostal Church. Intending to become a Pentecostal Christian missionary, she began evangelising and writing sermons at age six, by the age of 16, Winterson came out as a lesbian and left home. She soon after attended Accrington and Rossendale College, and supported herself at a variety of odd jobs while reading English at St Catherines College, Oxford. After she moved to London, her first novel, Oranges Are Not the Only Fruit, won the 1985 Whitbread Prize for a First Novel and this in turn won the BAFTA Award for Best Drama. She won the 1987 John Llewellyn Rhys Prize for The Passion, Wintersons subsequent novels explore the boundaries of physicality and the imagination, gender polarities, and sexual identities, and have won several literary awards. Her stage adaptation of The PowerBook in 2002 opened at the Royal National Theatre and she also bought a derelict terraced house in Spitalfields, east London, which she refurbished into a flat as a pied-à-terre and a ground-floor shop, Verdes, to sell organic food. In 2009, she donated the short story Dog Days to Oxfams Ox-Tales project, Wintersons story was published in the Fire collection. She also supported the relaunch of the Bush Theatre in Londons Shepherds Bush and her 2012 novella, The Daylight Gate, based on the 1612 Pendle Witch Trials, was published on the 400th anniversary of the trials. The novellas main character, Alice Nutter, is based on the woman of the same name. The Guardians Sarah Hall describes the work, the voice is irrefutable. Its also like courtroom reportage, sworn witness testimony, the sentences are short, truthful – and dreadful. Absolutism is Wintersons forte, and its the perfect mode to verify supernatural events when they occur, youre not asked to believe in magic. A man is transmogrified into a hare, the story is stretched as tight as a rack, so the readers disbelief is ruptured rather than suspended. And if doubt remains, the texts sensuality persuades In 2012, Winterson was made an officer of Order of the British Empire at the 2006 New Year Honours For services to literature. She is a winner of the Lambda Literary Awards. Written on the Body won in the category of Lesbian Fiction in 1994, additionally, Wintersons book Sexing the Cherry won the 1989 E. M. Forster Award
Jeanette Winterson
–
Winterson in
Warsaw,
Poland, 2005
33.
Barbie in the 12 Dancing Princesses
–
Barbie in the 12 Dancing Princesses is a direct-to-video computer animated Barbie film directed by Greg Richardson and loosely based on the fairytale The Twelve Dancing Princesses. It is part of the Barbie film series and features the voice of Kelly Sheridan as Barbie and this film was released on February 21,2006. Music for the film was composed by Arnie Roth, Shine, the end title song written by Roth, Amy Powers and Rob Hudnut, was nominated for a 2007 Emmy Award. Barbie stars as Genevieve, one of twelve princesses who live in a castle with their widowed father, the princesses have adventurous and free-spirited natures that are viewed as unladylike and non-proper by other members of the royal society. This leads King Randolph to summon his cousin, Duchess Rowena, unbeknownst to King Randolph, Rowena plans to poison him and get rid of his daughters so that she can become queen. Attempting to break the spirits, Rowena makes their lives miserable by stripping the castle of everything they love, making them wear grey dresses. The princesses realize that the story contains clues on how to enter the kingdom from their own bedroom. Now inside the kingdom, the princesses discover that the water there possesses healing properties. The next day, the princesses appear tired and the duchess finds their new dancing shoes worn through, the royal cobbler and Genevieves love interest, Derek, comes to fix their shoes and sees that they are covered in gold dust. When King Randolph mysteriously falls ill, Genevieve is prompted to ask Derek to investigate Rowenas true intentions and that night, the princesses return to the magical kingdom to dance. During this time, Derek discovers that Rowena is stealing heirlooms from the castle and dealing with an apothecary, the next morning, the sisters are again exhausted. Rowena interrogates and threatens them, but when they tell her the truth she refuses to believe them, heartbroken, they return to the magical kingdom, and Rowena finds the princesses gone the next morning. That evening, Derek makes it back to the castle but discovers that the princesses are missing and he sneaks into their bedroom and, remembering the dance Genevieve had shown him earlier, enters the magical kingdom to report his findings to the princesses. Rowenas monkey minion, Brutus, watches as Derek enters the magical kingdom, Rowena uses this knowledge to enter the magical kingdom, where she steals some of the gold flowers that grant wishes. Rowena then returns to the castle and destroys the gateway to the kingdom with the help of her footman Desmond. The princesses and Derek are trapped in the magical kingdom, upon returning, they learn that Rowena has taken over as queen. The princesses break into the castle to confront her, after a struggle, Rowena uses the gold flowers to wish that Genevieve dances forever. When the flower dust comes towards Genevieve, she uses her fan to blow the dust back towards Rowena, when Desmond tries to help her, he is pulled into the dance, too, and the two villains dance their way out of the castle
Barbie in the 12 Dancing Princesses
–
DVD cover
34.
Jim Dale
–
James Jim Dale, MBE, is an English actor, voice artist, and singer-songwriter. In the United Kingdom, he is best known for his appearances in the Carry On series of films. In the United States, he is most recognized for narrating the Harry Potter audiobook series and the ABC series Pushing Daisies, he also had a prominent role in the Disney film Petes Dragon. Dale is renowned as the lyricist of the song Georgy Girl, the theme for the 1966 film of the name, for which he was nominated for an Academy Award. In the 1970s, he was a member of the National Theatre Company, Dale was born James Smith to William Henry and Miriam Jean Smith in Rothwell, Northamptonshire. He was educated at Kettering Grammar School and he trained as a dancer for six years, before his debut as a stage comic in 1951. He performed two years service in the Royal Air Force. He also wrote lyrics for the song of the films The Winters Tale, Shalako, Twinky. At the age of twenty-two he became the first pop singer under the wing of Sir George Martin, several of his songs entered the UK Singles Chart, including Be My Girl, Just Born, Crazy Dream and Sugartime. In 1957, he was one of the presenters on BBC Televisions Six-Five Special, Dale also wrote and recorded the song Dick-a-Dum-Dum, which became a hit for Des OConnor in 1969. Dales film debut was in Six Five Special, a spinoff from the BBC TV series of the same name and this film was also released under the name Calling All Cats. He then had a role as a trombone player who thwarts orchestral conductor Kenneth Williams in the comedy Raising the Wind. However, he is best known in Britain for his appearances in eleven Carry On films, dont Lose Your Head, Follow That Camel, Carry On Doctor and Carry On Again Doctor and the 1992 Carry On Revival film Carry On Columbus. Dale played Harold, the policeman in the 1965 comedy film The Big Job with two of his regular Carry On co-stars, Sidney James and Joan Sims and he played Dr. Terminus in Walt Disneys Petes Dragon. He was the star of the Walt Disney comedy movie Hot Lead, at age eighteen Dale became one of the youngest professional comedians in Britain, touring all the variety music halls. On stage he appeared in dramatic and musical roles. He has been nominated for five Tony Awards, winning one for Barnum for which the New York Times described him as The Toast of Broadway, in 1970 Sir Laurence Olivier invited Dale to join the National Theatre Company in London, then based at the Old Vic. At the Young Vic Theatre, he created the role in Scapino, which he co-adapted with Frank Dunlop
Jim Dale
–
Dale with his
Barnum co-star
Glenn Close performing
Busker Alley, 2006
35.
Gloria Grahame
–
Gloria Grahame was an American stage, film and television actress. Grahame began her career in theatre, and in 1944 made her first film for MGM. Despite a featured role in Its a Wonderful Life, MGM did not believe she had the potential for major success, and sold her contract to RKO Studios. Often cast in film projects, Grahame received a nomination for an Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress for Crossfire, and she won this award for her work in The Bad. She achieved her highest profile with Sudden Fear, Human Desire, The Big Heat, but her film career began to wane soon afterwards. She returned to work on the stage, but continued to appear in films and television productions, in 1974, Grahame was diagnosed with breast cancer. It went into less than a year later and Grahame returned to work. In 1980, the cancer returned but Grahame refused to accept the diagnosis or seek treatment, choosing instead to continue working, she travelled to England to appear in a play. Her health, however, declined rapidly and she developed peritonitis after undergoing a procedure to remove fluid from her abdomen in September,1981 and she returned to New York City where she died in October,1981. Grahame was born Gloria Grahame Hallward in Los Angeles, California and her father, Reginald Michael Bloxam Hallward, was an architect and author, her mother, Jeanne McDougall, who used the stage name Jean Grahame, was a British stage actress and acting teacher. The couple had a daughter, Joy Hallward, an actress who married John Mitchum. During Glorias childhood and adolescence, her mother taught her acting, Grahame attended Hollywood High School before dropping out to pursue acting. Grahame was signed to a contract with MGM Studios under her name after Louis B. Mayer saw her performing on Broadway for several years. Grahame made her debut in Blonde Fever and then scored one of her most widely praised roles as the flirtatious Violet Bick. MGM was not able to develop her potential as a star, Grahame was often featured in film noir pictures as a tarnished beauty with an irresistible sexual allure. During this time, she made films for several Hollywood studios and she received an Oscar nomination for Best Supporting Actress for Crossfire. Grahame starred with Humphrey Bogart in the film In a Lonely Place, though today it is considered among her finest performances, it wasnt a box-office hit and Howard Hughes, owner of RKO Studios, admitted that he never saw it. When she asked to be loaned out for roles in Born Yesterday and A Place in the Sun, Hughes refused, graham appeared as wealthy seductress Harriet Lang in Stanley Kramers Not as a Stranger starring Olivia de Havilland, Robert Mitchum, and Frank Sinatra
Gloria Grahame
Gloria Grahame
–
in her Academy Award–winning role in
The Bad and the Beautiful (1952)
36.
Walter de la Mare
–
Walter John de la Mare OM CH was an English poet, short story writer and novelist. His 1921 novel Memoirs of a Midget won the James Tait Black Memorial Prize for fiction, De la Mare was born in Kent at 83 Maryon Road, Charlton, partly descended from a family of French Huguenots, and was educated at St Pauls Cathedral School. He was born to James Edward de la Mare, a principal at the Bank of England, the suggestion that Lucy was related to poet Robert Browning has been found to be incorrect. He had two brothers, Francis Arthur Edward and James Herbert, and four sisters Florence Mary, Constance Eliza, Ethel, De la Mare preferred to be known as Jack by his family and friends as he disliked the name Walter. He worked from 1890 in the department of the London office of Standard Oil for eighteen years to support his family. In 1908, through the efforts of Sir Henry Newbolt he received a Civil List pension which enabled him to concentrate on writing. In 1892 de la Mare joined the Esperanza Amateur Dramatics Club where he met and fell in love with Elfrida Ingpen, the leading lady, who was ten years older than he. They were married on 4 August 1899 and they went on to have four children, Richard Herbert Ingpen, Colin, Florence, the new family lived in Beckenham and Anerley from 1899 till 1924. It was in Beckenham at Mackenzie Road that the children were born, his first book of poems Songs of Childhood published and their house at Anerley in south London was the scene of many parties, notable for imaginative games of charades. In 1940, his wife Elfrida was diagnosed with Parkinsons disease and spent the rest of her life as an invalid, eventually dying in 1943. From 1940 until his death, de la Mare lived in South End House, Montpelier Row, Twickenham, for the Collected Stories for Children, he won the annual Carnegie Medal from the Library Association, recognising the years best childrens book by a British subject. It was the first collection to win the award, De la Mare suffered from a coronary thrombosis in 1947 and died of another in 1956. He spent his final year mostly bed-ridden, being cared for by a nurse whom he loved and his ashes are buried in the crypt of St Pauls Cathedral, where he had once been a choirboy. De la Mare described two types of imagination – although aspects might be a better term, the childlike. It was at the border between the two that Shakespeare, Dante, and the rest of the great poets lay, De la Mare claimed that all children fall into the category of having a childlike imagination at first, which is usually replaced at some point in their lives. He explained in the lecture Rupert Brooke and the Intellectual Imagination that children are not bound in by their groping senses, facts to them are the liveliest of chameleons. They are contemplatives, solitaries, fakirs, who sink again and again out of the noise and fever of existence and his biographer Doris Ross McCrosson summarises this passage, Children are, in short, visionaries. This visionary view of life can be seen as either vital creativity and ingenuity, the increasing intrusions of the external world upon the mind, however, frighten the childlike imagination, which retires like a shocked snail into its shell
Walter de la Mare
–
Walter de la Mare in 1924 (photo by
Lady Ottoline Morrell)
37.
Robin McKinley
–
Jennifer Carolyn Robin McKinley, known as Robin McKinley, is an American author of fantasy and childrens books. Her 1984 novel The Hero and the Crown won the Newbery Medal as the years best new American childrens book, as of 2015 McKinley has written or contributed to twenty books. Her most recent novel is Shadows, and her next anticipated novel is Ebon, Robin McKinley was born as Jennifer Carolyn Robin McKinley on November 16,1952 in Warren, Ohio. Her father William McKinley was an officer in the United States Navy, as a result of her fathers changing naval posts, McKinley grew up all over the world including in California, New York, Japan, and Maine. She was educated at Gould Academy, a school in Bethel. McKinley went on to college, first at Dickinson College in Carlisle. She finished her education at Bowdoin College in Brunswick, Maine. Robin McKinley currently lives in Hampshire, England and her husband was author Peter Dickinson, they were married from 1991 until his death in 2015. They had no children, though Dickinson had children from a previous relationship, McKinley has two dogs nicknamed Chaos and Darkness. Her obsessions include learning how to play the piano, horseback riding, gardening, cooking, after graduating from college, she remained in Maine for several years working as a research assistant and later in a bookstore. During this time, she completed her first book, Beauty, A Retelling of the Story of Beauty and it was accepted for publication by the first publisher it was sent to and upon publication immediately pushed McKinley to prominence. The book was named an American Library Association Notable Childrens Book, Robin McKinley has written a variety of novels, mostly in the fantasy genre. Several of her novels are her own personal renditions of classic fairy tales with a feminist twist and these retellings usually feature a strong female protagonist who does not wait to be rescued but instead takes an active role in determining the course of her own life. Besides adapting classic fairy tales, McKinley wrote her own rendition of the Robin Hood story in her novel The Outlaws of Sherwood, McKinley has written two novels set in the imaginary land of Damar, The Blue Sword and The Hero and the Crown. Her contribution to the Imaginary Lands anthology and the stories in A Knot in the Grain are also set there and she describes herself as a scribe and Damars historian, because the stories happen to her and she is only responsible for writing them down. The stories of Damar have been occurring to her since before she wrote Beauty, McKinleys standalone novels include Sunshine and Dragonhaven. She has said, I didnt discover boys because they didnt discover me and they were the ones who got to have adventures, while we got to—well, not have adventures. According to biographer Marilyn H. Karrenbrock, McKinleys females do not simper, but neither do they take love lightly or put their own desires before anything else
Robin McKinley
–
Robin McKinley
38.
Ellen Kushner
–
Ellen Kushner is an American writer of fantasy novels. From 1996 until 2010, she was the host of the radio program Sound & Spirit, produced by WGBH in Boston, Kushner was born in Washington, D. C. and grew up in Cleveland, Ohio. She attended Bryn Mawr College and graduated from Barnard College and she lives in New York City with her wife and sometime collaborator, Delia Sherman. They held a wedding in 1996 and were married in Boston in 2004. Kushners first books were five Choose Your Own Adventure gamebooks, during that period, she published her first novel, Swordspoint in 1987. A sequel set 18 years after Swordspoint, called The Privilege of the Sword, was published in July 2006, the Fall of the Kings is set 40 years after Swordspoint. All three books are considered mannerpunk novels, and take place in a nameless imaginary capital city and its district of Riverside. From 2011 to 2014 audiobook versions of all three novels were produced under the label of Neil Gaiman Presents, the Swordspoint adaptation won the 2013 Audie Award for Best Audio Drama, an Earphones Award from AudoFile Magazine, and the 2013 Communicator Award, Gold Award of Excellence. The adaptation of The Fall of the Kings won the 2014 Wilbur Award, kushners second novel, Thomas the Rhymer, won the World Fantasy Award and the Mythopoeic Award in 1991. She has also published stories and poetry in various anthologies, including The Years Best Fantasy and Horror. In 2002, she released a CD of her story The Golden Dreydl, A Klezmer Nutcracker, the music on the CD is performed by Shirim Klezmer Orchestra. The Golden Dreydl won a Gracie Award from American Women in Radio, a live theater version of The Golden Dreydl was performed in 2008 and 2009 at Vital Theater in New York City, written by Kushner and directed by Linda Ames Key. In 2007, Kushner, along with Elizabeth Schwartz and Yale Strom and it won the 2012 Wilbur Award for Best Single Program, Radio, the 2012 Grace Allen Award for Best Director, and the 2012 Gabriel Award, Arts, Local Release, Radio. In 2011 she co-edited Welcome to Bordertown, an anthology of new stories from Terri Windlings seminal shared-world series, in an audiobook adaptation Neil Gaiman read his own work, set to an original score by Boiled in Leads Drew Miller. With Sherman and others, she is involved in the interstitial art movement. She is the co-founder and past president of the Interstitial Arts Foundation and she is also a member of the Endicott Studio and has taught classes and seminars as part of Hollins Universitys MFA program, the Odyssey Writing Workshop, and the Clarion Writers Workshop. Mystery of the Secret Room 86
Ellen Kushner
–
Kushner in 2013
Ellen Kushner
–
Delia Sherman (l.) and Ellen Kushner.
39.
Patricia A. McKillip
–
Patricia Anne McKillip is an American author of fantasy and science fiction novels, which have been winners of the World Fantasy Award, the Locus Award, and the Mythopoeic Award. In 2008, she was a recipient of the World Fantasy Award for Life Achievement and she lives in Oregon and is married to David Lunde, a poet. She has also lived in Roxbury, New York, most of her recent novels feature cover paintings by Kinuko Y
Patricia A. McKillip
–
Patricia Anne McKillip
40.
Suzanne Weyn
–
Suzanne Weyn is an American author. She primarily writes childrens and young adult fiction and fantasy novels. And has written over fifty novels and short stories and she is best known for The Bar Code Tattoo, The Bar Code Rebellion and The Bar Code Prophecy. The Bar Code Tattoo has been translated into German, and in 2007 was nominated for the Jugendliteraturpreis for youth literature given by the German government and it was a 2007 Nevada Library nominee for Young Adult literature and American Library Association 2005 Quick Pick for Reluctant Young Adult Readers. Weyn spent her childhood in New York City and graduated from Nassau Community College in 1975, following college, Weyn worked as an editor of teen magazines at Starlog Press before starting her writing career. She has been an editor at Scholastic, Inc. and has taught expository, childrens and she has a Masters of Science in teaching adolescents from Pace University. Weyn has written several series for teenage girls, and numerous film novelizations. 1994 Suzanne Weyn at Fantastic Fiction Suzanne Weyn at the Internet Speculative Fiction Database
Suzanne Weyn
–
Suzanne Weyn
41.
Arthurian legends
–
King Arthur is a legendary British leader who, according to medieval histories and romances, led the defence of Britain against Saxon invaders in the late 5th and early 6th centuries AD. The details of Arthurs story are mainly composed of folklore and literary invention, the sparse historical background of Arthur is gleaned from various sources, including the Annales Cambriae, the Historia Brittonum, and the writings of Gildas. Arthurs name also occurs in early sources such as Y Gododdin. Arthur is a figure in the legends making up the so-called Matter of Britain. The legendary Arthur developed as a figure of international interest largely through the popularity of Geoffrey of Monmouths fanciful, how much of Geoffreys Historia was adapted from such earlier sources, rather than invented by Geoffrey himself, is unknown. Geoffrey depicted Arthur as a king of Britain who defeated the Saxons and established an empire over Britain, Ireland, Iceland, Norway and Gaul. The 12th-century French writer Chrétien de Troyes, who added Lancelot, in these French stories, the narrative focus often shifts from King Arthur himself to other characters, such as various Knights of the Round Table. Arthurian literature thrived during the Middle Ages but waned in the centuries that followed until it experienced a resurgence in the 19th century. In the 21st century, the lives on, not only in literature but also in adaptations for theatre, film, television, comics. The historical basis for the King Arthur legend has long debated by scholars. These culminate in the Battle of Badon, where he is said to have single-handedly killed 960 men, recent studies, however, question the reliability of the Historia Brittonum. The other text that seems to support the case for Arthurs historical existence is the 10th-century Annales Cambriae, the Annales date this battle to 516–518, and also mention the Battle of Camlann, in which Arthur and Medraut were both killed, dated to 537–539. These details have often used to bolster confidence in the Historias account. Problems have been identified, however, with using this source to support the Historia Brittonums account, the latest research shows that the Annales Cambriae was based on a chronicle begun in the late 8th century in Wales. Additionally, the textual history of the Annales Cambriae precludes any certainty that the Arthurian annals were added to it even that early. They were more likely added at point in the 10th century. The Badon entry probably derived from the Historia Brittonum and this lack of convincing early evidence is the reason many recent historians exclude Arthur from their accounts of sub-Roman Britain. These modern admissions of ignorance are a recent trend, earlier generations of historians were less sceptical
Arthurian legends
–
Tapestry showing Arthur as one of the
Nine Worthies, wearing a
coat of arms often attributed to him (c. 1385)
Arthurian legends
–
Statue of King Arthur at the
Hofkirche in
Innsbruck, designed by
Albrecht Dürer and cast by
Peter Vischer the Elder (1520s)
Arthurian legends
–
The 10th-century
Annales Cambriae (from a copy c. 1100)
Arthurian legends
–
A facsimile page of
Y Gododdin, one of the most famous early Welsh texts featuring Arthur (c. 1275)
42.
Lady of the Lake
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Lady of the Lake is the name of the ruler of Avalon in the Arthurian legend. She plays a role in many stories, including giving King Arthur his sword Excalibur, enchanting Merlin. Different writers and copyists give the Arthurian character the name Nimue, Viviane, Vivien, Elaine, Ninianne, Nivian, Nyneve, or Evienne, among other variations. The Lancelot-Grail Cycle provides a backstory for the Lady of the Lake, Viviane, in the prose Merlin section, though Merlin, through his power of foresight knows beforehand that this will happen, he is unable to counteract Viviane because of the truth this ability of foresight holds. He decides to do nothing for his situation other than to continue to teach her his secrets until she takes the opportunity to entrap and entomb him in a tree, a stone or a cave. Sir Thomas Malory also uses both Ladies of the Lake in his Le Morte dArthur, he leaves the first one unnamed, Malorys original Lady is presented as an early benefactor of King Arthur who grants him Excalibur when his original sword is damaged. She is later beheaded by Sir Balin as a result of a kin feud between them and a dispute over an enchanted sword, according to the Vulgate Merlin, it was the goddess Dianas enchantment, given to Dyonas, that caused Viviane to be so alluring to Merlin. The Vulgate Lancelot tells us that she was the Queen of Sicily, the continuation post-vulgata Merlin describes how she killed her lover to be with another man, but then she was beheaded by this man to be a murderess. This story was transferred to a lake in France, and was later called the Lake of Diana. In Sir Thomas Malorys text, Le Morte DArthur, he refers to Nimue as one of two Ladies of the Lake, without Nimue the Arthurian tale would not be as potent as it is with her. Malorys Nimue does not conform to the stereotypes surrounding her role, firstly, it is not Nimues hand that juts out the lake to hand Excalibur to Arthur. According to Malory, this belongs to the other Lady of the Lake. In Malorys text, Nimues character evolves from the dependent maiden to a woman who takes charge in order to help. She is married to Sir Pelleas and outwardly acts as an obedient wife, Nimue is a different kind of woman, one who does not shrink behind the male figures in her life. Instead, she is pragmatic, unflappable, and knowledgeable, similarly, Malory also introduces a character named Nyneve. This woman is another character for whom the title Lady of the Lake fits, similar to Nymue, Nyneve is sympathetic to Arthur and also marries Pelleas. She heavily stresses justice based on the greater good, in Malorys text, Nyneve is loosely related to Arthur receiving Excalibur. In Le Morte DArthur this king receives Excalibur three times, Once from the stone, once from the unidentified Lady of the Lake and once in a battle from Nyneve
Lady of the Lake
–
Nimue, The Lady of the Lake, shown holding the infatuated
Merlin trapped and reading from a book of spells, in
The Beguiling of Merlin (1872–1877) by
Edward Burne-Jones
Lady of the Lake
–
Merlin And Vivien (1912) by
Lancelot Speed
Lady of the Lake
–
"Arthur meets the Lady of the Lake and gets the Sword
Excalibur ". A 1919 illustration by
Henry Justice Ford for
Andrew Lang 's Tales of Romance
Lady of the Lake
–
Viviane and Merlin in
Gustave Doré 's 1868 illustration for
Alfred Tennyson 's
Idylls of the King
43.
Super Why!
–
Super Why. or The Reading Adventures of Super Why. is an American-Canadian childrens CGI animated show developed by Angela Santomero and Samantha Freeman Alpert. The series is produced by New York City-based Out of the Blue Enterprises, the show debuted on PBS stations on September 3,2007 and went on hiatus in October 2012 for 2 years and 10 months. The series resumed again on August 17,2015, the series airs on PBS Kids and Sprout in the USA, Kids CBC and Family Jr. in Canada, and as of June 26,2014, Nick Jr. and Tiny Pop in the UK. The title character himself as Whyatt, and welcomes the viewers to Storybrook Village. Then Whyatt hears a ringtone from his handheld Super Duper Computer and he answers the call and discovers that he or one of the other characters has a super big problem. After investigating the nature of the problem, Whyatt summons the Super Readers, sending out the call, Calling all Super Readers. The four characters, Whyatt, Pig, Red Riding Hood, and Princess Pea, and also Puppy then appear in front of the aforementioned Book Club, Whyatt then invites the viewer to say their name, including them among the Super Readers. Once the characters are assembled, Whyatts Book Club Mainframe, the computer, is activated. He plugs in his Super Duper Computer and uploads data about the problem, meanwhile, the character with the problem stands behind a small lectern made of dominoes and explains the situation. Once the problem is discussed, Whyatt states, When we have a question, Pig wonders, Which book should we look in. and in response, Princess Pea casts a magic spell to summon the appropriate book, Peas and Carrots, Carrots and Peas. Book come out, please, please, please, the goal of the Super Readers is to follow the storyline to solve the problem. As they progress through the events of the story, they encounter obstacles, as they overcome these obstacles, they are rewarded with red glittery Super Letters. These Super Letters are then uploaded into the Super Duper Computer, the viewer is encouraged to look for Super Letters throughout the story, and to identify them when they appear. The Super Letters are spelled out to show the Super Story Answer, then one of the Super Readers gives the reason why that particular word or phrase serves as the solution to the Super Big Problem. Once the solution is reached, it is used to wrap up the original problem, with that resolution, Whyatt shouts out, Hip hip hooray. The Super Readers saved the day, in the episode Jack and the Beanstalk, it is revealed that Whyatts older brother is Jack, the hero of the English folk tale Jack and the Beanstalk. Whyatt lives with his mother, who writes stories, and his father who illustrates them, along with baby sister Joy, Jack appears in some episodes but generally is away at college. When Whyatt introduces himself at the Book Club, he says and his superhero form is Super Why
Super Why!
–
Super Why & The Super Readers
44.
Juliet Marillier
–
Juliet Marillier is a New Zealand-born writer of fantasy, focusing predominantly on historical fantasy. She was educated at the University of Otago, where she graduated with a BA in languages, Marillier taught music at the high school and university levels and has also served as a choral conductor and opera singer. In 2009 Marillier was diagnosed with breast cancer, Marillier lives in the Swan Valley, Western Australia
Juliet Marillier
–
Marillier in 2013
45.
Wildwood Dancing
–
Wildwood Dancing is a young adult fantasy novel written by author Juliet Marillier and published by Pan Macmillan Australia in 2006. The publication of Wildwood Dancing follows soon on the heels of previous highly anticipated collections by Juliet Marillier, The Sevenwaters Trilogy and this time period would precede the writing of Bram Stokers Dracula, and therefore Marilliers Night People would not be referred to as vampires. One winter, Jenas father sets out to the coast of Constanța to recover from an illness that would kill him if he remained home for the winter. In his absence, he leaves his house, his daughters, and his half of the merchant business he and his cousin run in the hands of Jena. Every full moon, the go to the Other Kingdom. Eventually, Cezar becomes so bent on revenge for the death of his older brother Costi that he suggests felling the forest around both his and his cousins estates, in distress, Jena attempts to dissuade him from doing so. She also attempts to prevent Tati from seeing Sorrow, her sweetheart, in an effort to persuade her sister that it is not meant to be, Jena enlists the help of Bogdana to organize a party to find suitable husbands at the next Full Moon. Jena and her sisters are all upset that they will miss the Full Moon dance, but none so much as Tati, she rapidly loses weight. Tati decides to use this portal at Dark of the Moon, frightened, the sisters are separated, and Anastasia takes Jena to see Draguţas mirror. Frightened, Jena flees back to the lakeside, where she meets up with Tati, after miserably failing to propose to Jena, Cezar works out that the entrance to the Other Kingdom is indeed in the bedchamber that Jena and her sisters share. Desperate for help, Jena sets out to the lake where Costi drowned and she speaks to the old woman for a little, before she is given a powerful sleeping potion to put both the man and the chaperone to sleep on the night of the full moon. As Jena leaves she gives Gogu, her pet frog she carries everywhere she goes, a kiss on the nose, a bright flash throws both her and the frog apart. When she can see again, she finds a man on the shore of the lake, whom she instantly knows to be Gogu, she also recognizes him as the young man in the mirror. Jena is torn between following her heart and trusting him, and keeping her sisters safe by leaving him behind, eventually, though she doesnt want to, Jena leaves the young man behind, breaking her own heart to keep her sisters safe. As planned, the drug the man and chaperone in their bedchamber. Ileana tells Tati that she has set Sorrow a quest, to be completed one month, if he succeeds, they will be allowed to wed. Gogu is also there, and the faerie Queen reveals that he was bound by a spell of silence, Gogu then reveals to Jena that he is Costi, which she denies, however, Draguța later reveals that this is true. She had placed the boy under an enchantment to turn him into a frog, Costi returns the next day and takes over his fathers estate, and Cezar disappears, however, Jena is too nervous and guilty to speak to Costi
Wildwood Dancing
–
Wildwood Dancing first edition cover.
46.
Princess of the Midnight Ball
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Princess of the Midnight Ball is a 2009 young adult fantasy novel written by Jessica Day George. It is based on the fairy tale The Twelve Dancing Princesses, Princess Rose and her sisters Lily, Jonquil, Hyacinth, Violet, Daisy, Poppy, Iris, Lilac, Orchid, Pansy, and Petunia are trapped in a curse. Every third night, they have to dance at the Midnight Ball with the sons of the King Under Stone. The curse prevents them from speaking of it, and every prince who attempts to learn their secret in hopes of marrying one of them, Galen Werner is a soldier who is returning from the Westfalin-Analousia war. On his way to the city of Bruch to live with his mothers sister Liesel Orm, Galen meets an old woman. After he shares his food with her, the woman gives him white and black yarn, when Galen meets Rose, she knows that he can try to break the curse, but will he succeed despite the complications they come across. Galen Werner, The protagonist of the story, the son of a soldier. Galen had been a soldier since he was fifteen, when his father died in battle, with the Westfalin-Analousia war over, Galen Werner goes to live with his mothers sister and her family. Princess Rose, Another protagonist, the eldest daughter of King Gregor and she is protective of her sisters and wants desperately to break the curse they inherited from their mother. Rose is clever and courageous, but is burdened with the curse of dancing at the Midnight Ball. Princess Lily, The second daughter of King Gregor, who has worked with Rose for years to attempt to break the spell upon them and she is described as a gracious and artful young woman, as well as endlessly brave. She is an excellent shot with a pistol, having been taught by her sweetheart, Heinrich Orm, Galens cousin and his true name is Wolfram von Aue and was trapped long ago underground by the power of twelve magicians. King Gregor, The King of Westfalin and the father of Rose, out of love for his wife, Queen Maude, he ordered a Breton garden to be made, containing each of her favorite flowers. He loves his daughters deeply and despairs that they are mysteriously exhausting themselves each night, Walter Vogel, An elderly gardener who has worked in the Queens Garden since Rose was born. He becomes Galens mentor when Galen becomes one of the palace gardeners and it is stated on the authors website that Walter was named after the German poet Walter von der Vogelweide. The Orm Family, Galens only surviving family and his aunt, Liesel, is the sister of Galens mother Renata, and she welcomes him into her home. Liesels husband, Reiner, is a man who does not trust others easily and is proud of his position as the kings Chief Gardener. Liesel and Reiners daughter is Ulrike, a gentle girl who enjoys reading, while their son Heinrich
Princess of the Midnight Ball
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First edition cover
47.
Faerie Tale Theatre
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Faerie Tale Theatre is an American live-action childrens anthology series retelling fairy tales. This was one of the first examples of original programming. Faerie Tale Theatre originally aired on Showtime from 1982 to 1987, winning a Peabody Award, TCA Award and it later aired as edited re-runs on the Disney Channel as well as in syndication on various television stations, including PBS and BookTelevision. Shelley Duvall began conception of Faerie Tale Theatre while filming Popeye and she reportedly asked her co-star, Robin Williams, his opinion on The Frog Prince, a fairy tale she was reading during production. Williams would later star in the episode of the series. Every episode opens with Shelley Duvall introducing herself and welcoming the viewer to the show, all the episodes feature live-action twist adaptations of fairy tales in costume by many well-known actors and are directed by such diverse directors as Tim Burton and Francis Ford Coppola. C. Wyeth, Kay Nielsen, Breughel and Muer, Jennie Harbour, Faerie Tale Theatre was released on VHS, Betamax, CED and Laserdisc in the 1980s through mid 1990s, by Playhouse Video, CBS/Fox, and later Razz Ma Tazz Entertainment/Cabin Fever Entertainment. Starmaker II held the rights to the series from 2004 to 2006 and this was followed by a double-sided 4-disc box set and then a 6-disc box set, each version containing the same 26 episodes. The Greatest Moments episode was not included in this release, after 2006, Koch Vision held the series distribution rights, and in November 2006 licensed the rights worldwide to the British company 3DD Entertainment. A new remastered 7-disc box set, including the lost Greatest Moments episode, was released by Koch Vision on September 2,2008, the Pied Piper of Hamelin, Julius Caesar Rats monologue. Rumpelstiltskin, the Millers daughter singing with the animals in the forest. com Faerie Tale Theatre at epguides. com
Faerie Tale Theatre
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The 6-DVD box set cover by former distributor Starmaker II.
48.
Demon
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A demon is a supernatural, mythological and often malevolent being prevalent in religion, occultism, literature, fiction, mythology and folklore. The original Greek word daimon does not carry the negative connotation initially understood by implementation of the Koine δαιμόνιον, the Ancient Greek word δαίμων daimōn denotes a spirit or divine power, much like the Latin genius or numen. Daimōn most likely came from the Greek verb daiesthai, the Greek conception of a daimōn notably appears in the works of Plato, where it describes the divine inspiration of Socrates. To distinguish the classical Greek concept from its later Christian interpretation, the Greek terms do not have any connotations of evil or malevolence. In fact, εὐδαιμονία eudaimonia, means happiness, far into the Byzantine period Christians eyed their cities old pagan statuary as a seat of the demons presence. It was no longer beautiful, it was infested, the term had first acquired its negative connotations in the Septuagint translation of the Hebrew Bible into Greek, which drew on the mythology of ancient Semitic religions. This was then inherited by the Koine text of the New Testament, the Western medieval and neo-medieval conception of a demon derives seamlessly from the ambient popular culture of Late Antiquity. The Hellenistic daemon eventually came to include many Semitic and Near Eastern gods as evaluated by Christianity, the supposed existence of demons remains an important concept in many modern religions and occultist traditions. Demons are still feared largely due to their power to possess living creatures. In the contemporary Western occultist tradition, a demon is a metaphor for certain inner psychological processes. According to the Jewish Encyclopedia, In Chaldean mythology the seven evil deities were known as shedu, storm-demons and they were represented as winged bulls, derived from the colossal bulls used as protective jinn of royal palaces. From Chaldea, the term shedu traveled to the Israelites, the writers of the Tanach applied the word as a dialogism to Canaanite deities. There are indications that demons in popular Hebrew mythology were believed to come from the nether world, various diseases and ailments were ascribed to them, particularly those affecting the brain and those of internal nature. Examples include catalepsy, headache, epilepsy and nightmares, there also existed a demon of blindness, Shabriri who rested on uncovered water at night and blinded those who drank from it. Demons supposedly entered the body and caused the disease while overwhelming or seizing the victim, to cure such diseases, it was necessary to draw out the evil demons by certain incantations and talismanic performances, at which the Essenes excelled. In mythology, there were few defences against Babylonian demons, the mythical mace Sharur had the power to slay demons such as Asag, a legendary gallu or edimmu of hideous strength. As referring to the existence or non-existence of shedim there are converse opinions in Judaism, there are practically nil roles assigned to demons in the Jewish Bible. In conclusion, Jews are not obligated to believe in the existence of shedim, the word shedim appears only in two places in the Tanakh
Demon
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Lilith, by
John Collier, 1892
Demon
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Buer, the 10th spirit, who teaches "Moral and Natural Philosophy" (from a 1995 Mathers edition. Illustration by Louis Breton from
Dictionnaire Infernal).
Demon
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The classic
Japanese demon, an ogre-like creature which often has horns.
Demon
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Human-headed winged bull, otherwise known as a
Lamassu
49.
Entwined
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Entwined is a 2011 novel written by Heather Dixon. It is based on the fairy tale The Twelve Dancing Princesses, entwined tells the story of Princess Azalea and her eleven younger sisters, and the magic they discover while mourning the death of their mother. Azalea, the Princess Royale, is tasked with hosting the annual Yuletide ball the royal family holds on Christmas Eve. The Queen, who is pregnant and ill, summons Azalea to her room to give her a silver handkerchief. At the ball, Azalea meets a young Lord Bradford and quickly warms up to him and her ten sisters, who are all too young to attend, sneak in and watch the event, a sisterly tradition. The ball is abruptly ended by Prime Minister Fairweller, without explanation, the next morning Fairweller informs the princesses their mother died in the night, giving birth to their twelfth sister, Lily. As per tradition, the royal family are to go into mourning for a year. The princesses feel suffocated by all the restrictions, especially the one on dancing, the King shuts himself off war right after the funeral, leading the girls to wonder if he even loves them. She rubs the handkerchief on it, revealing a passage with a staircase leading downwards and she wakes the other girls and they all descend. At the bottom they find a forest of trees and a pavilion full of enchanted dancers. They interrupt the party and the dancers disappear, the owner of the pavilion introduces himself as the Keeper, and explains he was part of the legendary High Kings court, but rebelled and was trapped within the castle as punishment. He allows the princesses to dance to their hearts content, every night the girls dance so much that they wear through their slippers. Theyre often tired in the morning and late to lessons and breakfast, when the King returns from war he discovers the girls have been dancing at night, although he doesnt know where. Remembering the Queens handkerchief and how magical it felt, Azalea makes her sisters all promise on it to never tell anyone about the pavilion, with no other choice, the King allows the girls to continue dancing, provided they dont speak about it in front of him. One night, the Keeper tells the princesses a story about the High King drinking a goblet of blood, in the morning Azalea realizes that their watch is missing and goes back to retrieve it. Keeper reveals hes been stealing from them, and refuses to give their things back until they find the object thats keeping him confined within the walls of the castle. Azalea suspects the castles magic sugar teeth, which have been around since The High King was alive, the princesses start a castle-wide hunt for them, which proves fruitless. Meanwhile, the King puts an advertisement in the newspaper inviting gentlemen to stay at the castle for two days to try and solve the riddle of where the dance at night
Entwined
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Entwined
Media related to The Twelve Dancing Princesses at Wikimedia Commons
Works related to The Twelve Dancing Princesses at Wikisource
